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One-Year Study Of The Species Diversity And Relative Abundance Of Snakes And Lizards In The Jack Mountain Region Of Hot Springs County, Arkansas, Vincent A. Cobb, Jeff A. Summerhill

Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science

No abstract provided.

The Prairie Naturalist Volume 27, No.4 December 1995

The Prairie Naturalist

NEW DISTRIBUTIONAL RECORDS FOR MAMMALS IN KANSAS · D. W Sparks and J. R. Choate

CLAY-COLORED SPARROWS IN NORTH DAKOTA PARASITIZED BY BROWN-HEADED COWBIRDS ▪ G. P. Romig and R. D. Crawford

A NOTEWORTHY RECORD AND THE BREEDING DISTRIBUTION OF THE BLUE GROSBEAK IN NORTH DAKOTA ▪ L. D. Igl

NEAR LONGEVITY RECORD FOR THE SNOW GOOSE ▪ M T. Koenen and D. M. Leslie, Jr.

COMPARISON OF WATER CONSUMPTION BETWEEN TWO GRASSLAND EMBERIZIDS ▪ J. L. Zimmerman

FACTORS ASSOCIATED WITH DECLINING PROPORTION OF CITIZENS HUNTING IN SOUTH DAKOTA ▪ N. J. Dietz, K. F. Higgins, and R. D. Mendelsohn …

The Prairie Naturalist Volume 27, No.2. June 1995

The Prairie Naturalist

WILDLIFE MORTALITY ASSOCIATED WITH OIL PITS IN WYOMING ▪ B.J. Esmoil and S.H. Anderson

DRAMATIC INCREASE OF LE CONTE'S SPARROW IN CONSERVATION RESERVE PROGRAM FIELDS IN THE NORTHERN GREAT PLAINS ▪ LD. Igl and D.H. Johnson

CHRISTMAS BIRD COUNTS FOR NORTH DAKOTA - 1994 ▪ R.N. Randall

DESCRIPTIONS OF WALLEYE STOCKS IN HIGH-ELEVATION RESERVOIRS, WYOMING ▪ T.D. Marwitz and W A. Hubert

NEW VASCULAR PLANT RECORDS FOR THE BLACK HILLS OF SOUTH DAKOTA AND WYOMING • G.E. Larson and J.R. Johnson

NOTES

A New Population of Small White Lady's-Slipper (Cypripedium candidum) in South Dakota ▪ S.E. Boettcher

Sandhill …

Plant Community Changes Over 54 Years Within The Great Basin Experimental Range, Manti-La Sal National Forest, Scott C. Walker, David K. Mann, E. Durant Mcarthur

Aspen Bibliography

Plant community changes and natural succession over time impact forage values, watershed quality, wildlife habitat, and ecosystem dynamics. Comparisons were made between a vegetation map of community types completed in 1937 by the U.S. Forest Service, and vegetation maps compiled in 1990 of the same areas by satellite imagery, and through 1991 areal photo interpretation combined with ground truthing. The study area includes nearly all of the drainage in Ephraim Canyon located in central Utah which consists of 6,027 acres (2,439 ha). Elevation ranges from 6,600 to 10,400 feet (2,040 to 3,210 m). Vegetation types ranged from pinyon-juniper woodland through …

The Challenge And Opportunity Of Recovering Wolf Populations, L. David Mech

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

The gray wolf once inhabited a wide variety of habitats throughout most of the northern hemisphere north of 20°N latitude. Because the animal preyed on livestock and competed with humans for wild prey, it was extirpated from much of its range outside of wilderness areas. Environmental awareness in the late 1960s brought for the wolf legal protection, increased research, and favorable media coverage. The species has increased in both Europe and North America, is beginning to reoccupy semiwilderness and agricultural land, and is causing increased damage to livestock. Because of the wolfs high reproductive rate and long dispersal tendencies, the …

Getting The Lay Of The Land: Introducing North American Native Grasslands, Anthony Joern, Kathleen H. Keeler

School of Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications

The expected catastrophic extinction of species (already under way in many places) will alter the planet’s biological diversity so profoundly that, at the known rate of extinction, it will take millions of years to recover. Yet few ecologists study extinction. Indeed, very little ecology deals with any processes that last more than a few years, involve more than a handful of species, and cover an area of more than a few hectares. The temporal, spatial and organizational scales of most ecological studies are such that one can read entire issues of major journals and see no hint of impending catastrophe. …

Interaction Of Diffuse Competition And Insect Herbivory In Limiting Brittle Prickly Pear Cactus, Opuntia Fragilis (Cactaceae), Jutta C. Burger, Svata M. Louda

Svata M. Louda Publications

We tested the effects of above- and below-ground competition and evaluated insect herbivory on the growth of a common cactus (Opuntia fragilis) in Sandhills prairie. Our purpose was to determine the independent and joint contribution of these factors to the variation observed in cactus size and local abundance. We manipulated ambient prairie vegetation and surface water availability in a full factorial design. When Opuntia fragilis was released from competition with surrounding vegetation, it grew significantly larger in the second growing season, both in terms of number and size of new cladodes. Ramets grown within live prairie vegetation averaged …

Eutrophication And Macrobenthic Communities Of The Lower Chesapeake Bay: Effects Of Organic Enrichment In Pocomoke Sound, Saxis Virginia, Janice D. Mcdonnell

Biological Sciences Theses & Dissertations

The effects of organic enrichment on benthic community structure were evaluated in a field study conducted in Pocomoke Sound in the vicinity of a seafood processing plant. The empirically derived Species Abundance and Biomass (SAB) curves of Pearson and Rosenberg (1978) were used to model patterns of organic enrichment at the study site, called Pig Point, as well as two reference sites located within Pocomoke Sound. The Split Moving Windows (SMW) method was used to detect the ecotone point as defined in the Pearson and Rosenberg (1978) model and the Two Term Local Quadrat Variance (TTLQV) method was used to …

Reproductive Biology And Early Life History Of Fishes In The Ohio River Drainage, Vol. 2, Larry K. Kay, Robert Wallus, Bruce L. Yeager

Ohio River Fish

No abstract provided.

Selection Of Foraging And Nesting Sites By Black-Throated Blue Warblers: Their Relative Influence On Habitat Choice, Benjamin B. Steele

Dartmouth Scholarship

To understand why breeding Black-throated Blue Warblers (Dendroica caerulescens) select forests with dense shrubs, I assessed the value of this habitat in supplying opportunities for foraging and nesting. I predicted that these warblers would select shrub foliage for foraging if foraging substrate was important in their selection of habitat and that they would place their nests in areas of dense shrubs if nest-site availability affected habitat choice. To measure foraging and nest-site selection, I compared the proportion of foraging or nests in a particular habitat element to the availability of that element expressed as a proportion of all …

Aspects Of The Ecology Of The Wood Turtle, Clemmys Insculpta (Leconte), In West Virginia, Allan J. Niederberger

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

An ecological study of the wood turtle, Clemmys insculpta (LeConte), was conducted in West Virginia from May 1991 to March 1993. Population structure at the primary study area (WV #1) was estimated to be 46% juvenile (H-8 yrs. old), 26% female and 28% male. Total population estimate for WV #1 was 337 wood turtles, with an aquatic density of 1,980 turtles per Hectare of river and a terrestrial density of 22.5 turtles per ha of terrestrial habitat. Growth measurements and estimates indicate rapid initial growth tapering off at year 8 and gradually declining through year 16. Males grow slightly faster …

Distribution And Occurrence Of Eriogonum Visheri A. Nels. On The Medora And Mckenzie Districts, Little Missouri National Grasslands, In North Dakota, Staria S. Vanderpool

Theses and Dissertations

Eriogonum visheri A. Nels. (Polygonaceae) is a plant species whose distribution in North Dakota is incompletely known. The plant species is listed by North Dakota Heritage Program personnel as a G5/S2S3 [G5 = demonstrably secure globally, although it may be rare; S2 = imperiled in the state (6-20 occurrences) or vulnerable to extirpation; S3 = rare in the state (20+ occurrences)]. The species is Federally listed as C2 [current information indicates that listing as endangered or threatened may be warranted, but information about the species is presently inadequate to support immediate ruling] (Northern region, USDA Forest Service, 1991). The limited …

Population Studies Of Migratory Birds In Virgin Islands National Park, Robert A. Askins, David N. Ewert

Biology Faculty Publications

The majority of the individual songbirds nesting in the deciduous forests of eastern North America migrate to the West Indies, Central America and South America during the winter. They typically spend more than six months in tropical winter habitats. Until recently relatively little was known about their habitat requirements during the winter, but increasing concern about declining pcpulations of many migratory songbirds combined with widespread alarm about the rapid destruction of tropical forests has led to a flurry of research on this subject (Terborgh, 1989; Askins et al. 1990). In 1987 we initiated a study of the ecology and behavior …

Status Of The Ozark Hellbender, Cryptobranchus Bishopi (Urodela: Cryptobranchidae), In The Spring River, Fulton County, Arkansas, Stanley E. Trauth, J. D. Wilhide, Patrick Daniel

Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science

We conducted a tag and release study of the Ozark hellbender along a 26 km stretch of the Spring River from mid-July through mid-November, 1991, to determine current population levels. Salamanders were collected by hand with the aid of scuba diving equipment. Thirteen visits(36 dive hrs.) to10 selected access sites yielded 20 animals. Compared to previously published data of the early 1980's which indicated large, striving populations of C. bishopi(in some cases, > 300 individuals) in the Spring River, our study found perilously low numbers of salamanders. This drastic decline may be attributed to over collection of specimens for scientific or …

Unobstructed Visibility At Whooping Crane Roost Sites On The Platte River, Nebraska, Craig A. Faanes

Proceedings of the North American Crane Workshop

Unobstructed visibility is an important component of whooping crane (Grus americana) roosting habitat. Recent habitat modeling efforts suggest that unobstructed horizontal visibility is suitable at a minimum of 335 m. Unobstructed upstream and downstream visibility is also an important part of whooping crane roosting habitat, but quantification of that parameter has not been reported previously, or incorporated into species models. Data from the Platte River suggest that a minimum of 732 m of unobstructed upstream and downstream visibility is needed at whooping crane roost sites.

Contaminant Residues In Sandhill Cranes Killed Upon Striking Powerlines In Central Nebraska, Timothy E. Fannin

Proceedings of the North American Crane Workshop

In 1989 and 1990, 58 sandhill cranes (Grus canadensis) were collected along the central Platte River in Nebraska during a study of mortality caused by powerline impact. Brains were assayed for acetylcholinesterase activity; gut contents were analyzed for residues of 25 organophosphate and 6 carbamate compounds; and livers were analyzed for 20 inorganics (including lead, mercury, and boron) and 22 organochlorine chemicals. Brain acetylcholinesterase activities appeared to be within normal ranges, and no measurable organophosphate or carbamate residues were found in the gut contents of 5 birds with the lowest brain enzyme activities. Heptachlor epoxide, oxychlordane. p,p' -DDE, …

Sandhill Crane Collisions With Power Lines In Southcentral Nebraska, John P. Ward, Stanley H. Anderson

Proceedings of the North American Crane Workshop

Sandhill crane (Grus canadensis) collisions with power lines were studied in southcentral Nebraska in 1986 and 1987. Approximately 596 km of power lines were surveyed for dead cranes in 1986, and 210 km of power lines in 1987. A total of 135 dead cranes were located. Cranes collided 4 times more with transmission lines than distribution lines, although distribution lines were twice as abundant. We believe cranes collided with the static wires on the transmission lines. Juveniles and Canadian sandhill cranes (G.c. rowani) had a higher probability of colliding with power lines than other age groups …

Whooping Crane Riverine Roosting Habitat Suitability Model, Jerry W. Ziewitz

Proceedings of the North American Crane Workshop

Water development interests on the Platte River in Nebraska and recognition of the importance of this river as migratory bird habitat have prompted studies to determine how much water is needed to maintain wildlife habitat values. The whooping crane (Grus americana) is one of many species that use the Platte. A model was developed to quantify the relationship between river discharge and roosting habitat suitability for whooping cranes, designed to accommodate the data collection and hydraulic simulation techniques of the Instream Flow Incremental Methodology. Results of the model indicate that optimum roosting habitat conditions in the Big Bend …

Prevention Of Eastern Equine Encephalitis Virus In Captive Cranes, James W. Carpenter, Douglas M. Watts, C. L. Crabbs, Gary G. Clark, Thomas W. Scott, Douglas Docherty, Benedict B. Pagac, Jeannine M. Dorothy, James G. Olson, F. Joshua Dein

Proceedings of the North American Crane Workshop

An epizootic of eastern equine encephalitis (EEE) virus infection in 1984 resulted in death for 7 of 39 captive whooping cranes (Grus americana) at the Patuxent Wildlife Research Center. This represented the first known whooping crane deaths associated with this arboviral disease and posed a serious risk to the continued propagation of this endangered species. Subsequent research and surveillance procedures initiated to prevent EEE viral infections in captive whooping cranes included vector surveillance and control, virus surveillance through use of sentinel birds, immunoassays for rapid detection of EEE virus antigen in bird sera and in mosquitoes, and testing …

Factors Influencing The Future Of Whooping Crane Habitat On The Platte River In Nebraska, Craig A. Faanes

Proceedings of the North American Crane Workshop

Lands along 86 km of the Platte River in Nebraska were designated by the U.s. Department of Interior as critical habitat for the endangered whooping crane (Grus americana) in 1978. The designation established the legal basis for the continued protection of lands critical to the survival and recovery of whooping cranes. Currently there are 14 federal, state, and local water projects planned for the Platte River system. If completed, total withdrawal would be about 80% of the remaining 30% of the original flow. In this paper I summarize those projects and discuss their potential impact on whooping crane habitat. …

Measuring Shrubland Vegetational Structure Using Avian Habitats As An Example, Douglas A. James

Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science

Vegetational sampling of avian habitats stresses the use of methods primarily designed for forest birds. This paper describes a technique for sampling vegetational structure in uneven patchy habitats such as shrublands. Using the method, avian habitats in old field shrublands of northwestern Arkansas were analyzed.

Characteristics Of Whooping Crane Roost Sites In The Platte River, Craig A. Faanes, Douglas H. Johnson, Gary R. Lingle

Proceedings of the North American Crane Workshop

The Big Bend of the Platte River in centraJ Nebraska provides important migration habitat for whooping cranes (Grus americana). River profiles were obtained at 23 confumed nocturnal roost sites occupied by whooping cranes during 1983 -90. Whooping cranes selected roost sites that had shallower water depths than at unused sites. All but 4 roosts were located in channels wider than 150 m; roost sites were an average of 27.8 % of the channel width from the nearer shore. Nearly 90% of the roost sites had a trench of deeper water on both sides. Proper management of the Platte …

History And Economic Impact Of Crane-Watching In Central Nebraska, Gary R. Lingle

Proceedings of the North American Crane Workshop

The first documentation of the Platte and North Platte rivers' importance to sandhill cranes (Grus canadensis) dates from the late 1800's. Except for a few ornithologists, it was not until the mid-1970's that crane-watching became popular. During the last 10 years, this interest has become a multi-million dollar tourist industry that attracts people from around the globe who seek to witness this vernal spectacle of half a million cranes. More than half of the former riverine habitat has been abandoned by the cranes, largely because of irrigation and hydropower projects that drain the river and enable forests to …

Relationship Of Channel Maintenance Flows To Whooping Crane Use Of The Platte River, Craig A. Faanes, David B. Bowman

Proceedings of the North American Crane Workshop

Periodic high flows in the Platte River are necessary to scour vegetation and redistribute sediment in the stream channel. Peak and mean annual flows have been reduced by as much as 70% from pre-development times, but channel maintenance flows still occur, although at a much reduced frequency and magnitude of occurrence. Use of the Platte River by migrant whooping cranes (Grus americana) in recent years appears to be related to the recent occurrence of flows in excess of 8,000 cfs for 5 or more consecutive days.

Distribution, Habitats, And Taxonomy Of Ruppia Maritima L. And R. Occidentalis S. Watson In Nebraska, Robert B. Kaul

Transactions of the Nebraska Academy of Sciences and Affiliated Societies

Specimens of Ruppia from all eleven Nebraska counties in which it is known fall into two groups: R. occidentalis in alkaline Sandhills waters and R. maritima in saline waters of the Platte River Valley and Lancaster County. Ruppia occidentalis is distinguished by its more robust size; redspotted leaves and stems; terete, entire, obtuse leaves; 4-8(9) carpels; and by two elliptic white spots on its endocarp, among other characteristics. Ruppia maritima is more delicate and unspotted; the leaves are oblate in section, sub-apically denticulate, and acute-acuminate; the carpels are 3 or 4, and the endocarp spots are nearly circular. Both species …

The Prairie Naturalist Volume 23, No. 1. March 1991

The Prairie Naturalist

Paul B. Kannowski, Editor

Nikki R. Seabloom, Assistant Editor

Douglas H. Johnson, Book Review Editor

CONTENTS

AGRICULTURAL LAND USE AND MOURNING DOVES IN EASTERN COLORADO: IMPLICATIONS FOR NESTING AND PRODUCTION IN THE GREAT PLAINS ▪ T E. Olson, C. E. Braun, and R. A. Ryder

DISTRIBUTION OF SANDHILL CRANES IN THE NORTH PLATTE RIVER VALLEY 1980 AND 1989 ▪ M. J. Folk and T. C. Tacha

NOCTURNAL BEHAVIOR OF SANDHILL CRANES ROOSTING IN THE PLATTE RIVER, NEBRASKA ▪ B. S. Norling, S. H. Anderson, and W A. Hubert

LEAD POISONING OF A MARBLED GODWIT ▪ L. N. Locke, M. R. …

A New Bruchophagus From Glycyrrhiza Lepidota Pursh In The Northern Great Plains (Hymenoptera : Chalcidoidea : Eurytomidae), Burruss Mcdaniel, Arvid A. Boe

Native Plant Focused Publications

A new species, Bruchophagus grisselli McDaniel and Boe, which infests seeds of Glycyrrhiza lepidota Pursh (American licorice), is described and illustrated. It's known from South Dakota and North Dakota in the USA. A field study at 8 sites showed that B. grisselli has a wide distribution throughout the Dakotas.

Vegetation Of Greenbottom Swamp, Cabell County, West Virginia, Honggang Liu

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

This research is a study of wetland vegetation in Greenbottom Swamp, Cabell County, West Virginia. Based on the field data and computer data processing, seven plant community types were recognized: Salix nigra-Acer saccharinum, Salix nigra-Plantanus occidentalis, Acer saccharinum-Plantanus occidentalis, Acer saccharinum-Salix nigra, Typha latifolia-Saururus cernuus, Cephalanthus occidentalis and Leersia oryzoides. Several species, Acer saccharinum, Salix nigra, Plantanus occidentalis, Cephalanthus occidentalis, Saururus cernuus, Hibiscus moscheutos, Leersia oryzoidse, Lemna minor and Spirodella polyrhiza are dominate plants in different plant community layers. Each community type occupies an area with certain environmental …

Past And Present Distribution Of The Red-Cockaded Woodpecker Picoides Borealis And Its Habitat In The Ouachita Mountains, Arkansas, Joseph C. Neal, Warren G. Montague

Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science

Within the past 15 years, at least 41 and probably more active cavity tree clusters (or colonies) of Red cockaded Woodpeckers (Picoides borealis) have existed in remnant, mature shortleaf pine (Pinus echinata) woodlands in the Ouachita Mountains of Arkansas. These clusters were located on both private timberlands and in the Ouachita National Forest. Fewer than half of this number were still active in early 1991, and none remained on private timberlands. The species is presently restricted to the xeric, western margins of the Ouachitas in Scott and Polk counties within the confines of the Ouachita National Forest where it receives …

Distribution, Scutellation, And Reproduction In The Queen Snake, Regina Septemvittata (Serpentes: Colubridae), From Arkansas, Stanley E. Trauth

Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science

The queen snake, Regina septemvittata, has a disjunct portion of its distribution in Arkansas. This rare, crayfish-eating species is best known from only a few isolated populations from several major streams that flow out of the Boston Mountains of the Ozark Plateau. A field study of this species was conducted during the summer of 1990, and only 4 specimens were documented. Gravid females were collected in July; sperm production was also noted in July. Parturition presumably takes place in August or early September. This species may qualify as threatened or endangered in Arkansas.