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Dc Birdscape: A Program For Monitoring Neotropical Migratory Birds In Washington, Dc, John Sauer, John Hadidian, Sam Droege, Paul Handly, Carolyn Williams, Christopher Swarth, George Didden, Jane Huff

Biogeography and Ecological Opportunity Collection

Urban and suburban habitats often contain a variety of Neotropical migratory birds, but are poorly sampled by programs such as the North American Breeding Bird Survey. DC Birdscape was developed to inventory and monitor birds in Washington, DC. Birds were surveyed using a systematic sample of point counts during 1993-1995. Results indicate that species richness of Neotropical migratory birds varied among land-use categories, and that maximum species richness occurred in parkland habitats. Although DC Birdscape has provided relevant information on bird distribution and species richness, it is unclear whether the information is of sufficient management interest to support its continuation …

Assessing Factors That May Predispose Minnesota Farms To Wolf Depredations On Cattle, L. David Mech, Elizabeth K. Harper, Thomas J. Meier, William J. Paul

United States Geological Survey, Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center: Publications

Wolf (Canis lupus) depredations on livestock cause considerable conflict and expense in Minnesota. Furthermore, claims are made that such depredations are fostered by the type of animal husbandry practiced. Thus, we tried to detect factors that might predispose farms in Minnesota to wolf depredations. We compared results of interviews with 41 cattle farmers experiencing chronic cattle losses to wolves (chronic farms) with results from 41 nearby "matched" farms with no wolf losses to determine farm characteristics or husbandry practices that differed and that therefore might have affected wolf depredations. We also used a Geographic Information System (GIS) to …

Atlas Of Essential Wildlife Habitats For Maine's Endangered And Threatened Species, Maine Department Of Inland Fisheries And Wildlife

Maine Collection

Atlas of Essential Wildlife Habitats for Maine's Endangered and Threatened Species

Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, 284 State Street, Augusta, Maine, 04333. 2000 Edition ("Valid through December 31, 2000").

"Printed under appropriations 014/013-09A-2004/3204-012".

Response To Critique Of The Claim Of Cannibalism At Cowboy Wash, Patricia M. Lambert, Banks L. Leonard, Brian R. Billman, Richard A. Marlar, Margaret E. Newman, Karl J. Reinhard

Karl Reinhard Publications

The original authors of Billman et af. (2000) are joined by three other analysts from the Cowboy Wash research team to respond to the critique of this article by Dongoske et af. (2000). Dongoske and his coauthors state that Billman et af. (2000) failed to test alternative hypotheses or to consider alternative explanations for the findings at 5MTJOOJO and similar sites. The original authors point out that alternative hypotheses were examined and rejected, leaving a violent episode of cannibalism as the most plausible explanation for the remains found at 5MTJOOJO. Dongoske et af. also question many aspects of the osteological, …

Comparing Genotypic And Phenotypic Methods For Differentiating Strains Of Escherichia Coli Isolated From The Environment, Lateef Y. Saffore

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

Escherichia coli is a Gram-negative, oxidase-negative, lactose fermenting rod belonging to the family Enterohacleriaceae. The enteric bacteria are common inhabitants of animal and human guts, but are not considered to be native to the environment. The presence of E. coli and similar enteric bacteria (coliforms) in surface water or groundwater implies the presence of fecal contamination from human or animal sources. E. coli has been used as an indicator of sewage-contaminated water since the 1930's and some strains are also causative agents of food or waterborne disease (Francy et al., 1993). The severity of disease can vary markedly depending …

Geometric Rule Learning By Clark’S Nutcrackers (Nucifraga Columbiana), Alan Kamil, Juli E. Jones

Papers in Behavior in Biological Sciences

Clark’s nutcrackers (Nucifraga columbiana) were trained to search in a location defined by its geometric relationship to 2 landmarks. Two groups were trained to search at different points along the line connecting the landmarks, and 2 groups were trained to find the 3rd point of a triangle, on the basis of either direction or distance from the landmarks. All groups learned and transferred to new interlandmark distances. However, the constant-distance group learned more slowly, searched less accurately, and showed less transfer than the other 3 groups. When tested with new orientations of the landmarks, the birds tended to …

Leg Ornamentation And The Efficacy Of Courtship Display In Four Species Of Wolf Spider (Araneae: Lycosidae), Eileen Hebets, George W. Uetz

Eileen Hebets Publications

This study used both correlative and experimental video playback methods to test the hypothesis that the secondary sexual traits of male wolf spiders act to increase the efficacy of visual courtship displays. Direct observations of courtship of several lycosid genera and a review of the literature revealed a significant association between ornamentation and visual courtship displays. This suggests that the ornamentation may be playing the role of amplifier for a visual display. To test this hypothesis, male courtship behaviors of four Schizocosa species were experimentally manipulated using video-imaging techniques. Females of species with non-visually displaying, non-ornamented males (Schizocosa duplex …

The Dyke Marsh Preserve Ecosystem, David W. Johnston

Virginia Journal of Science

For over a century, Dyke marsh along the Potomac River just south of Alexandria, VA, has been a favorite site for natural history studies. Despite earlier attempts at diking to create agricultural land and dredging for sand and gravel, the remaining marsh represents the last major tidal freshwater wetland on the upper Potomac River, and is now owned and maintained by the National Park Service as the Dyke Marsh Preserve. In the present paper historical data on physical properties and biota are compared and contrasted with more recent biological investigations to show functioning ecosystem components, interrelationships among the flora and …

Mortality Of Adult White-Tailed Deer On Fort Chaffee, Arkansas, Gregory G. Humphreys, Thomas A. Nelson

Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science

We conducted a telemetry study on Fort Chaffee, Arkansas, to estimate the extent, timing, and causes of mortality among resident adult white-tailed deer {Odocoileus virginianus). Twenty-seven deer were captured, radio-collared and monitored for 1 yr to assess seasonal mortality. Annual mortality rates differed considerably between sexes, with males exhibiting a much higher rate (86.1%) than females (5.3%). The primary causes of death among males were poaching, predation by coyotes, and legal harvest. Legal harvest by a gun-hunter accounted for the only female mortality. No mortalities were attributed to military exercises, which occurred frequently on the study area. Our results suggest …

Feeding Relationship Between Two Synoptic, Morphologically Similar Fishes, The Western Mosquitofish (Gambusia Affinis) And The Blackspotted Topminnow (Fundulus Olivaceus), Allyson R. Neely, Edmund J. Pert

Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science

We sampled fish during the summer of 1999, in Caney Bayou on the campus of the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff, Jefferson County, in order to study the feeding relationship between the western mosquitofish (Gambusia ajfinis) and the blackspotted topminnow (Fundulus olivaceus). We identified and enumerated the diet items of 56 blackspotted topminnows and 28 mosquitofish that were captured using electroshocking, seining, and dipnetting. Pooled diet items for each species were analyzed using a variety of approaches: percent of diet composition, frequency of occurrence, Levins' measure of diet breadth, and Morisita's measure of diet overlap. Twenty-one percent of mosquitofish …

Record Of The Lake Sturgeon, Acipenser Fulvescens Rafinesque, From The Caddo River (Ouachita River Drainage), Arkansas, Betty G. Crump, Henry W. Robison

Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science

No abstract provided.

Impacts Of White-Tailed Deer Grazing On Spring Wildflower Communities, Faye Frankland

Masters Theses

High deer densities on state forests and nature preserves throughout Illinois have prompted concerns that deer are impacting the growth, survival, and reproduction of spring-flowering herbaceous plants. I investigated the impacts of white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) on the herbaceous vegetation, particularly spring wildflowers, at Beall Woods Nature Preserve (BWNP). BWNP was selected as the site for this study because it supports a diverse community of spring wildflowers and a large deer population. The objectives for this study were to: (1) quantify the extent of deer foraging on representative spring-flowering plant species at Beall Woods Nature Preserve, (2) investigate the effects …

Effects Of Leafy Spurge (Euphorbia Esula) Infestation On Breeding Birds Of The Sheyenne National Grassland, Nd, Daniel M. Scheiman

Masters Theses

Leafy spurge (Euphorbia esula) is an exotic invasive weed in the northern Great Plains. We examined the effects of leafy spurge infestation on densities and nest success of breeding birds in grasslands on the Sheyenne National Grassland (SNG), ND. We categorized spurge-infested grasslands into three levels of infestation, based on the area covered by spurge patches: (a) low (0-20%), (b) medium (20-60%) and, (c) high (> 60%). We surveyed 60 100-m radius circular plots (20 in each category), and searched for nests in three 16-ha plots (one in each category). There were no statistically significant differences in mean species richness …

Proximity Of White-Tailed Deer, Odocoileus Virginianus, Ranges To Wolf, Canis Lupus, Pack Homesites, Michael E. Nelson, L. David Mech

United States Geological Survey, Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center: Publications

Seven adult female White-tailed Deer (Odocoileus virginianus) in northeastern Minnesota lived within 1.8 km of Wolf pack (Canis lupus) homesites without vacating their home ranges. Six of these deer and at least three of their fawns survived through the Wolf homesite period.

Growth Curves Of Four Species Of Commercially Valuable Freshwater Mussels (Bivalva: Unionidae), Alan D. Christian, Chris L. Davidson, William R. Posey Ii, Peter J. Rust, Jerry L. Farris, John L. Harris, George L. Harp

Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science

North American freshwater mussels (Bivalvia: Unionidae) have been exploited commercially for over 100 years and have been regulated using shell size limits and/or harvest seasons. Presently, freshwater mussels are considered a threatened faunal group in North America due to the large numbers of endangered, threatened or special concern species. Therefore, management of this fauna should emphasize their long-term sustainability. The objectives of this study were 1) to construct von Bertalanffy growth curves for selected "commercially-most-valuable" species, Fusconaia ebena, Megalonaias nervosa, Amblema plicata and Quadrula quadrula, from five rivers and two reservoirs, 2) to compare species-specific von Bertalanffy growth curves from …

Curly-Tail Malformity In Hatchlings Of The Alligator Snapping Turtle, Macroclemys Temminckii (Testudines: Chelydridae) In Arkansas, Malcolm L. Mccallum, Stanley E. Trauth

Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science

No abstract provided.

Breeding Mortality In The Wood Frog, Rana Sylvatica (Anura: Ranidae), From Northcentral Arkansas, Stanley E. Trauth, Malcolm L. Mccallum, Michael E. Cartwright

Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science

No abstract provided.

Home Ranges And Movements Of Adult Deer On Fort Chaffee, Arkansas, Gregory G. Humphreys, Thomas A. Nelson

Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science

We radio-tracked 27 white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) weekly for one year on Fort Chaffee, Arkansas, to investigate their seasonal home ranges and movements between hunted areas and refuges on this military base. This work resulted in2,123 separate radiolocations, of which 85% (1,799) were suitable for use in home range analyses. We used the McPAAL computer package to estimate home range using the Harmonic Mean and minimum convex polygon (MCP) methods. Harmonic mean estimates were based on 95% contour lines. Home range size differed between the sexes and methods. Male home ranges were larger than those of females (t= 3.32, P<0.01; harmonic mean) (t=2.07, P<0.05; MCP). Average home range sizes for males and females based on the harmonic mean method were estimated to be 483 ha and 181 ha, respectively, whereas home range estimates for males and females using the MCP method were 636 ha and 289 ha, respectively. The average home range size for all deer was 259 ha (harmonic mean) and 379 ha (MCP). We found no evidence that females restricted their home ranges during the fawning period. However, females' home ranges expanded during the breeding season, perhaps to find mates. Few deer moved to refuge areas that were off-limits to hunters during the hunting season.

Winter Breeding As A Common Occurrence In The Ringed Salamander, Ambystoma Annulatum (Caudata: Ambystomatidae), In The Ozark National Forest Of Northcentral Arkansas, Stanley E. Trauth

Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science

No abstract provided.

Salinity And Shade Preferences Result In Ovipositional Differences Between Sympatric Tiger Beetle Species, W. Wyatt Hoback, Douglas A. Golick, Tina Marie Svatos, Stephen M. Spomer, Leon G. Higley

Department of Entomology: Faculty Publications

1. Adult tiger beetles of the genus Cicindela often co-occur within a habitat but larvae do not. Larvae are sedentary and form usually permanent burrows at the site of oviposition where they require 1-3 years for development.

2. To test niche partitioning based on ovipositional preference, the behavior of two sympatric salt marsh tiger beetles, Cicindela circumpicta and C. togata (Coleoptera: Cicindelidae), were examined.

3. In laboratory studies, female C. circumpicta and C. togata distinguished between experimental salinities, with the former preferring 4 parts per thousand (ppt) and the latter preferring 12 ppt. In the field, C. circumpicta larvae were …

A Record Large Wolf, Canis Lupus, Pack In Minnesota, L. David Mech

United States Geological Survey, Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center: Publications

This report documents a pack of 22-23 Wolves (Canis lupus) in central Minnesota. This is larger than the largest pack previously observed on the mainland in the midwestern U.s. during 650 wolf pack-years. Because this record-large pack preyed on White-tailed Deer (Odocoileus virginianus), one of the Wolfs smaller prey, it is evidence that pack size and prey size are not tightly related. It also indicates the size that Wolf packs can attain in the area if fully protected from human persecution.

Lack Of Reproduction In Muskoxen And Arctic Hares Caused By Early Winter?, L. David Mech

United States Geological Survey, Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center: Publications

A lack of young muskoxen (Ovibos moschatus) and arctic hares (Lepus arcticus) in the Eureka area of Ellesmere Island, Northwest Territories (now Nunavut), Canada, was observed during summer 1998, in contrast to most other years since 1986. Evidence of malnourished muskoxen was also found. Early winter weather and a consequent 50% reduction of the 1997 summer replenishment period appeared to be the most likely cause, giving rise to a new hypothesis about conditions that might cause adverse demographic effects in arctic herbivores.

Durant l’été 1998, et ce, à la différence de la plupart des années depuis …

Accuracy And Precision Of Estimating Age Of Gray Wolves By Tooth Wear, Philip S. Gipson, Warren B. Ballard, Ronald M. Nowak, L. David Mech

United States Geological Survey, Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center: Publications

We evaluated the accuracy and precision of tooth wear for aging gray wolves (Canis lupus) from Alaska, Minnesota, and Ontario based on 47 known-age or known-minimum-age skuIIs. Estimates of age using tooth wear and a commercial cementum annuli-aging service were useful for wolves up to 14 years old. The precision of estimates from cementum annuli was greater than estimates from tooth wear, but tooth wear estimates are more applicable in the field. We tended to overestimate age by 1-2 years and occasionaIIy by 3 or 4 years. The commercial service aged young wolves with cementum annuli to within …

Prolonged Winter Undernutrition And The Interpretation Of Urinary Allantoin:Creatinine Ratios In White-Tailed Deer, Glenn D. Delgiudice, Ken D. Kerr, L. David Mech, Ulysses S. Seal

United States Geological Survey, Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center: Publications

The urinary allantoin:creatinine (A:C) ratio (expressed in micromoles of allantoin to micromoles of creatinine) has shown potential as an index of recent winter energy intake in preliminary controlled studies of elk (Cervus elaphus) involving mild condition deterioration (up to 11% loss of body mass). To ensure reliable nutritional assessments of free-ranging cervids by measuring A:C ratios of urine in snow, it is essential to extend this work. We assessed the effect of moderate and severe winter nutritional restriction on urinary A:C ratios of captive white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) that lost up to 32% body mass and …

Surviving The Flood: Plastron Respiration In The Non-Tracheate Arthropod Phrynus Marginemaculatus (Amblypygi: Arachnida), Eileen Hebets, Reginald F. Chapman

Eileen Hebets Publications

Specimens of Phrynus marginemaculatus can remain responsive when submerged in water for more than 24 hours. Behavioral data indicate that P. marginemaculatus utilizes dissolved oxygen from the surrounding water. Scanning electron miscroscopy and light microscope sections show cuticular modifications for plastron respiration. All previous examples of plastron respiration have involved animals with tracheal systems, but amblypygids respire through the use of two pairs of book lungs. This study provides the first example of plastron respiration not only in the order Amblypygi, but also, in any non-tracheate arthropod.

Rhinocyllus Conicus -- Insights To Improve Predictability And Minimize Risk Of Biological Control Of Weeds, Svata M. Louda

Svata M. Louda Publications

A review of information on the release of Rhinocyllus conicus to control of Carduus spp. thistles in North America suggests at least 8 lessons for future biological control efforts. These lessons include the need for: 1) better a priori quantification of the occurrence and ecological effects of the weed; 2) improved incorporation of ecological criteria to supplement the phylogenetic information used to select plants for pre-release testing; 3) increased assessment of plausible direct and indirect ecological interactions when an agent looks promising but feeding tests suggest it is not strictly monophagous, including ecological factors determining host use and limiting population …

Predicting Non-Target Ecological Effects Of Biological Control Agents: Evidence From Rhinocyllus Conicus, Svata M. Louda, A. E. Arnett

Svata M. Louda Publications

The discovery and quantification of significant non-target ecological effects of Rhinocyllus conicus on native species in the northcentral USA provides the opportunity to experimentally evaluate factors that might help predict non-target host plant use, magnitude of direct impact with transference, and indirect effects mediated by trophic interactions. The relevance for biocontrol risk assessment of at least four important ecological relationships has emerged from these studies so far. These relationships include the role played in interaction outcome and ecological risk by: 1) ecological similarity of potential host plants, as well as phylogenetic distance; 2) synchrony of critical stages between insect and …

Relationships Of Nematodirus Species And Nematodirus Battus Isolates (Nematoda: Trichostrongyloidea) Based On Nuclear Ribosomal Dna Sequences, Steven A. Nadler, Eric P. Hoberg, Deborah S.S. Hudspeth, Lora G. Rickard

Harold W. Manter Laboratory of Parasitology: Faculty Publications

Nuclear ribosomal sequence data from the internal transcribed spacers (ITS-1 and ITS-2), 5.8S subunit, and regions of the 18S and 28S genes were used to investigate sequence diversity among geographic samples of Nematodirus battus, and to infer phylogenetic relationships among Nematodirus species. Phylogenetic analysis of these data yielded strong support for relationships among species, depicting Nematodirus helvetianus and Nematodirus spathiger as sister-taxa and a clade of these two species and Nematodirus filicollis. This tree is consistent with caprine bovids as ancestral hosts, with a subsequent host shift to Bovinae in N. helvetianus. Eleven of fourteen N. battus sequences …

The Role Of Mummy Studies In Paleoparasitology, Adauto Araujo, Karl J. Reinhard, Luiz Fernando Ferreira

Karl Reinhard Publications

Paieoparasitology has advance during the past decade to the status of a statistically based science focused on problems of disease ecology and geographic distribution of parasitism. For most of its development, paleoparasitology has focused on the analysis of coprolites and latrine sediments. During the past few years, mummies have been increasingly included in paleoparasitology studies. We evaluate in this paper the interpretive value of mummies relative to other sources of paleoparasitological data.

EI estudio de la paleoparasitologia ha logrado transformarse, en esta ultima decada, en una ciencia basada en la estadistica, enfocada a temas tales como la ecologia de enfermedades …

Archaeoparasitology, Karl Reinhard

Karl Reinhard Publications

The field devoted to the identification of parasite remains in the archaeological record and the reconstruction of past human-parasite interactions. Parasitic disease has always been a major problem. Recent summaries of the prevalence of parasitic diseases in the world today show that there are 4.5 billion infections with all species of parasitic worm, 1 billion infections with giant intestinal roundworm (Ascaris lumbricoides), 750,000,000 infections with whipworms (Trichuris trichiura), 900,000,000 infections with hookworm (Ancylostoma duodenale and Necator americanus), 657,000,000 infections with filarial worms, 200,000,000 with blood flukes (schistosome species), and 489,000,000 infections with malaria. These infections cause between 1,590,000 to 3,130,000 …