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My Manuscript Needs Revision: Now What?, Christopher N. Jacques

The Prairie Naturalist

Greetings GPNSS members! Hopefully by now you have read my previous editorial notes about the transformation of The Prairie Naturalist (Journal) during the past few years and the work the Editorial Staff continues to do to provide a quality publication venue for the Journal’s membership and prospective authors. During my tenure as Editor-in-Chief (Editor), I have had the good fortune of working with many authors and a truly dedicated Editorial Staff. Most topics for editorials come to me relatively easily, though admittedly I found myself scratching my head when thinking about a topic for this editorial. After much pensive thought, …

Book Reviews: Human Dimensions Of Ecological Restoration: Integrating Science, Nature, And Culture. Edited By Dave Egan, Evan E. Hjerpe, And Jesse Abrams., Chuck Harris

The Prairie Naturalist

The practice of ecological restoration has long been a key element in the management of ecosystems, but it has only been since the 1980s that research on resource management has specifically studied this practice and its foundations in restoration ecology. One major focus of this research has been the application of the theories and methods of the social sciences to ecological restoration activities.

Fairly recently, the application of the social sciences to resource management, in general, and to ecological restoration, in particular, has been couched in the broadest of terms. Beginning in the 1990s, this application was expressed in terms …

Comparison Of Piping Plover Foraging Habitat On Artificial And Natural Sandbars On The Missouri River, Daniel H. Catlin, Joy H. Felio, James D. Fraser

The Prairie Naturalist

The presence of food close to nesting habitat is essential for piping plover (Charadrius melodus) reproductive output. Since 2004, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has been engineering artificial nesting and brood-rearing habitat for piping plovers on the Missouri River. We compared arthropod abundance indices from artificial and natural sandbars as part of an evaluation of foraging habitat. The artificial sandbars had fewer and different arthropods than natural sandbars. The arthropod indices, however, need to be considered in light of total area of foraging habitat. Although there were fewer arthropods on artificial sandbars, the abundance of foraging habitat and relatively …

Evidence Of American Martens Populating The Turtle Mountains Of North Dakota, Amber J. Bagherian, Dorothy M. Fecske, Maggie D. Triska, Joseph A. Bishop, Dean J. Berezanski, Sandra K. Johnson, Robert P. Brooks, Thomas L. Serfass

The Prairie Naturalist

American martens (Martes americana) were native to northeastern North Dakota but were considered extirpated by the early 1800s. Although there is no historic evidence of martens occurring beyond the northeast, forested habitat potentially suitable for martens exists in the Turtle Mountains region of northcentral North Dakota and southwestern Manitoba. From 1989– 1991, the Turtle Mountain Trappers Association translocated 59 martens into the Canadian portion of the Turtle Mountains. During summer 2007, we used covered track-plates and/or remotely-triggered cameras placed at 123 survey sites distributed among 41 1-km2 grid cells (a GIS-generated layer imposed on electronic maps of the study region) …

Topographic Home Range Of Large Mammals: Is Planimetric Home Range Still A Viable Method?, W. David Walter, Justin W. Fischer, Teresa J. Frink, Scott E. Hygnstrom, Jonathan A. Jenks, Kurt C. Vercauteren

The Prairie Naturalist

Topography influences movement trajectories, quality of forages used, and behavioral response of large herbivores to anthropogenic disturbances, but research is lacking on the influence of terrain complexity on size of home range. Size of home range usually is based on planimetric area and therefore rarely accounts for the true surface area traversed by an animal. We conducted radiotelemetry on bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis), Rocky Mountain elk (Cervus elaphus), mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus), and white-tailed deer (O. virginianus) equipped with VHF collars at three sites from 2002 to 2006 to document size of home range in areas that ranged from 400 …

Concurrent Effects Of Resource Pulse Amount, Type, And Frequency On Community And Population Properties Of Consumers In Detritus-Based Systems, Donald A. Yee, Steven A. Juliano

Faculty Publications

Episodic resource inputs (i.e., pulses) can affect food web properties and community dynamics, but detailed mechanistic understanding of such effects remain elusive. Natural aquatic microsystems (e.g., tree holes, human-made containers) are colonized by invertebrates that form complex food webs dependent on episodic and sometimes sizeable inputs of allochthonous detritus from adjacent terrestrial environments. We investigated how variation in pulse frequency, amount, and resource type interacted to affect richness, abundance, composition, and population sizes of colonizing invertebrates in water-filled tires and tree hole analogs in a forest habitat. Different container types were used to assess the generality of effects across two …

Exploring The Houtman Abrolhos Islands, Western Australia. Department Of Fisheries

Fisheries Occasional Publications

This booklet is designed to assist you in exploring and appreciating the Houtman Abrolhos Islands. It provides a general overview on the attributes of the Abrolhos that make it so unique. A place rich in ecological, historical, economic and cultural significance for Western Australia.

Apart from being an introduction to the Abrolhos, the booklet also provides background and context for the various management plans and strategies developed and implemented to sustainably manage these Islands and their surrounding waters.

Chlorophyll-Based Approach For Remote Estimation Of Crop Gross Primary Production: From In Situ Measurements To Satellite Imagery, Yi Peng

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

The synoptic and accurate quantification of crop gross primary production (GPP) is essential for studying carbon budgets in croplands and monitoring crop status. The objective of this dissertation is to develop a quantitative technique to estimate crop GPP using remotely sensed data collected from close range to satellite altitudes. In this study, a model based on a recently developed paradigm, which relates crop GPP to a product of total crop chlorophyll content and incident radiation affecting vegetation photosynthesis, was justified for the remote estimation of GPP in crops. The model was tested with ground-observed incoming photosynthetically active radiation (PAR_{in …}

The Spatial Games: Investigating The Spatial Distribution Of Anax And Select Prey As A Function Of Predator-Prey Interactions, Shane Elizabeth Johnson, Nene Kumashe Ugbah

Biological Sciences

Our study investigated the spatial distribution and movement behavior of predatory dragonfly larvae (Anax) and of two prey types: mosquito larvae and amphipods. Predator-prey interactions have important consequences for the population dynamics of both predator and prey groups and these interactions can shape community structure. We measured behavior of each prey type in the presence of the Anax predator and the behavior of the predator in the presence of these alternative prey types. Observations were made in five-gallon aquaria where a grid pattern allowed us to track the number of moves made by individuals. We compiled data from …

Investigating The Role Of An Understudied North Atlantic Right Whale Habitat: Right Whale Movement, Ecology, And Distribution In Jeffreys Ledge, Kathryn Longley

Graduate Masters Theses

The critically endangered North Atlantic right whale (Eubalaena glacialis) consistently visits five major habitats throughout the year; however, they are known to visit additional habitats. This project examines the role of Jeffreys Ledge as an additional habitat of importance for this species by investigating three aspects of its distribution and ecology. I first addressed the relationship of Jeffreys Ledge to a known significant right whale feeding ground, Cape Cod Bay, by quantifying the movement of right whales between the two habitats and comparing demographic characteristics of right whales seen in these habitats. Secondly, I measured the quality of the zooplankton …

Composition Of The Adult Digestive Tract Bacterial Microbiome Based On Seven Mouth Surfaces, Tonsils, Throat And Stool Samples, Nicola Segata, Susan Kinder Haake, Peter Mannon, Katherine P. Lemon, Levi Waldron, Dirk Gevers, Curtis Huttenhower, Jacques Izard

Department of Food Science and Technology: Faculty Publications

Background: To understand the relationship between our bacterial microbiome and health, it is essential to define the microbiome in the absence of disease. The digestive tract includes diverse habitats and hosts the human body’s greatest bacterial density. We describe the bacterial community composition of ten digestive tract sites from more than 200 normal adults enrolled in the Human Microbiome Project, and metagenomically determined metabolic potentials of four representative sites.

Results: The microbiota of these diverse habitats formed four groups based on similar community compositions: buccal mucosa, keratinized gingiva, hard palate; saliva, tongue, tonsils, throat; sub- and supra-gingival plaques; …

Notes: Red-Tailed Hawk Predation Of A Striped Skunk, Steven G. Platt, Thomas R. Rainwater

The Prairie Naturalist

Skunks (Mephitidae) are capable of projecting pungent, oily musk from paired anal glands (Verts 1967), which acts as a central nervous system depressant (Wade- Smith and Verts 1982), and can incapacitate birds of prey if directed into the eyes (Garcelon 1981). Consequently, few raptors are known to prey on striped skunks (Mephitis mephitis). Great horned owls (Bubo virginianus) are the only raptor that regularly preys on skunks (Bent 1938b, Lowery 1974, Houston et al. 1998), although occasional instances of predation by golden eagles (Aquila chrysaetos; Olendorff 1976, Palmer 1988a), bald eagles (Haliaeetus leucocephalis; Broley 1952, Wade-Smith and Verts 1982), northern …

Least And Merriam’S Shrews From Banner County, Nebraska, Jennifer N. Merlino, Alexandra R. Frohberg, Jamie Harmon, Keith Geluso

The Prairie Naturalist

Four species of shrews occur in the panhandle of western Nebraska – the masked shrew (Sorex cinereus), Merriam’s shrew (S. merriami), dwarf shrew (S. nanus), and least shrew (Cryptotis parva; Genoways et al. 2008). Little information is known regarding the distribution and habitat of those species due to few captures of individuals throughout the region (e.g., Jones 1964, Freeman et al. 1993, Benedict et al. 1999, 2000, Geluso et al. 2004). To date, no shrew has been reported from the southwestern part of the panhandle in Banner, Kimball, or Cheyenne counties. Here we present distributional records for the least shrew …

Grass And Canada Goldenrod (Solidago Canadensis) Competition And Implications For Management In The Northern Tallgrass Prairie, Alexander J. Smart, Gary E. Larson, Peter J. Bauman

The Prairie Naturalist

Canada goldenrod (Solidago canadensis L.) is a native perennial forb that can form dense clonal patches and become weedy in pastures of the Northern Tallgrass Prairie Ecoregion. Our objectives were to determine 1) the competitive effects between Canada goldenrod and grass, 2) the relationship between Canada goldenrod stem density and grass biomass, and 3) the distribution of Canada goldenrod stem density at the pasture scale. We used regression analysis to develop a relationship between Canada goldenrod stem density and grass biomass. Additionally, we estimated the frequency distribution of Canada goldenrod stem density categories using three evenly distributed 100 × 100-m …

Spatiotemporal Variation In Vegetation Structure Resulting From Pyric-Herbivory, Sherry Leis, Lloyd W. Morrison, Michael D. Debacker

The Prairie Naturalist

Pyric-herbivory is a process that is widely assumed to create greater habitat heterogeneity in grasslands at the landscape scale than could be achieved by either fire or grazing alone. Yet, few studies have actually quantified the effects of pyric- herbivory on vegetation structure within layers of the grass canopy. Here we quantify the effects of pyric-herbivory on a pasture at Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve in Kansas. We subdivided the pasture into three patches and burned one patch each year in a three-year rotation. We estimated visual obstruction for 25-cm strata and recorded maximum vegetation height. We found that recently burned …

Sickleweed On The Fort Pierre National Grassland: An Emerging Threat, Jack L. Bulter, Stefanie D. Wacker

The Prairie Naturalist

We report the first detailed field survey of sickleweed (Falcaria vulgaris L.) in the United States. Sickleweed is native to Europe, the Mediterranean, Asia Minor, and Iran and was first reported in the United States in 1922. It is listed by the Nebraska Invasive Species Council as a Category II invasive plant species. In recent years, abundance and distribution of sickle- weed has increased dramatically in and around the Fort Pierre National Grassland (FPNG), South Dakota. Management of such a rapidly expanding population is hampered by a general lack of baseline information on the biology and ecology of sickleweed. We …

Spatial Ecology Of Urban Raccoons In Northeastern Ohio: Implications For Oral Rabies Vaccination, Are R. Berentsen, Mike R. Dunbar, Chadd E. Fitzpatrick, W. David Walter

The Prairie Naturalist

In 1977, rabies was detected in a raccoon (Procyon lotor) in West Virginia, and since the mid-1980s raccoon variant rabies has spread throughout the eastern United States and moved west as far as the eastern edge of Cleveland, Ohio. The primary tool to combat this spread is the distribution of oral rabies vaccine (ORV) baits. A thorough knowledge of raccoon space use is critical in determining bait placement, particularly in urban areas. We monitored nine raccoons in urban areas of Cleveland, Ohio, calculated home range sizes, monitored raccoon movement with respect to potential movement barriers, and used resource selection functions …

Seasonal Food Habits Of Burrowing Owls (Athene Cunicularia) In Human-Altered Landscapes, Carie Marie Wingert

Master's Theses

In 2004, I initiated a year-long study to investigate the food habits of burrowing owls (Athene cunicularia). Burrowing owls have been found in a variety of human-altered landscapes; however, little is known about burrowing owl food habits in urban landscapes. Burrowing owl food habits during the non-breeding season are also largely undocumented, despite increasing concern over the survival of overwintering burrowing owls. Differences in prey consumption between reproductive and non-reproductive owls during the breeding season have not yet been examined. I collected pellets over a 12 month period at four study sites affected by different levels of human …

The Dynamics Of Location: Influence Of Predation By Chaoborus Larvae On Rotifer Diel Vertical Migration Patterns, Kristina P. Riemer

Lawrence University Honors Projects

The locations of freshwater organisms in lakes are determined by the convergence of many competing factors. While predation pressure is one of these, also important are areas of food concentration and the physical and chemical constraints of a system. Diel vertical migration is a behavior exhibited by freshwater organisms in many taxa that is the result of balancing these factors. Diel vertical migration consists of movement by these organisms throughout the water column in accordance with a 24 hour cycle. This oscillation is generally driven by the competing factors of predation pressure and food acquisition, and is modified by physical …

Macrophyte Communities Of Lake Winnebago: Baseline Study Of Species Composition With Abundances And Water Quality Conditions, Mackenzie Kessenich

Lawrence University Honors Projects

Historical records from Lake Winnebago show minimal macrophyte growth; however, reports from recent years claim that macrophyte growth in some areas of the lake has reached nuisance levels. This study aimed to investigate the species of macrophytes present and their abundances in four near-shore locations, as well as measurements of multiple water quality conditions. Rake sampling was used to identify species and quantify their abundances and distributions. In addition, data were collected on light penetration, Secchi depths, and suspended algae chlorophyll concentrations at each site. These data from shallow near-shore sites reveal trends in changing water clarity and light penetration …

Squalicorax Chips A Tooth: A Consequence Of Feeding-Related Behavior From The Lowermost Navesink Formation (Late Cretaceous: Campanian-Maastrichtian) Of Monmouth County, New Jersey, Usa, Martin A. Becker, John A. Chamberlain Jr.

Publications and Research

Chipped and broken functional teeth are common in modern sharks with serrated tooth shape. Tooth damage consists of splintering, cracking, and flaking near the cusp apex where the enameloid is broken and exposes the osteodentine and orthodentine. Such damage is generally viewed as the result of forces applied during feeding as the cusp apex impacts the skeletal anatomy of prey. Damage seen in serrated functional teeth from sharks Squalicorax kaupi [1] and Squalicorax pristodontus [1] from the late Cretaceous lowermost Navesink Formation of New Jersey resembles that occurring in modern sharks and suggests similar feeding behavior. Tumbling experiments using serrated …

The Effects Of A Riverline Flood On The Ecology And Habitat Of The Swainson's Warbler And A Test Of The Swainson's Warbler's Habitat Sustainability Index, Bryan Michael Reiley

Student Theses and Dissertations

We attempted to validate the recently published Habitat Suitability Index (HSI) model for the Swainson's Warbler using data collected between 2005 and 2010 at Big Island (BI), White River National Wildlife Refuge (WRNWR), and Saint Francis National Forest (SFNF). The Swainson's Warbler HSI was tested in two ways; by comparing unoccupied and occupied location HSI scores and by comparing forest stand HSI scores to abundance estimates of Swainson's Warblers in each stand. We found HSI scores were significantly lower (P = 0.006) for sites occupied by Swainson's Warblers (mean = 0.66) than those that were unoccupied (mean = 0.77) at …

Will Extreme Climatic Events Facilitate Biological Invasions?, Jeffrey M. Diez, Carla M. D'Antonio, Jeffrey S. Dukes, Edwin D. Grosholz, Julian D. Olden, Cascade J.B. Sorte, Dana M. Blumenthal, Bethany A. Bradley, Regan I. Early, Inés Ibáñez, Sierra J. Jones, Joshua J. Lawler, Luke P. Miller

Faculty Publications, Biological Sciences

Extreme climatic events (ECEs) – such as unusual heat waves, hurricanes, floods, and droughts – can dramatically affect ecological and evolutionary processes, and these events are projected to become more frequent and more intense with ongoing climate change. However, the implications of ECEs for biological invasions remain poorly understood. Using concepts and empirical evidence from invasion ecology, we identify mechanisms by which ECEs may influence the invasion process, from initial introduction through establishment and spread. We summarize how ECEs can enhance invasions by promoting the transport of propagules into new regions, by decreasing the resistance of native communities to establishment, …

Phylogenetic Relationships And Character Evolution Of The Neotropical Butterfly Genus Hamadryas (Nymphalidae: Biblidinae), Ivonne J. Garzon

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

The butterflies in the genus Hamadryas are popular and noticeable representatives of the Neotropical Lepidoptera fauna. After a thorough taxonomic revision, 20 species were acknowledged within the genus, however no hypothesis of their phylogenetic relationship was proposed. The present dissertation provides a step further into the understanding of this fascinating group of butterflies not only by proposing the first phylogenetic hypothesis for the genus based on morphological and molecular data, but also by exploring for the first time in a group of butterflies the potential effect of venation associated with an specific behaviour on wing shape. Furthermore, this dissertation provides …

Fish Assemblage Dynamics And Red Drum Habitat Selection In Bayou St. John And Associated Urban Waterways Located Within The City Of New Orleans, Louisiana, Patrick W. Smith Mr.

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

Bayou St. John (BSJ) and City Park Lakes and Lagoons (CPLL) are urban waterways in New Orleans, Louisiana. I studied habitat selection of red drum in BSJ, and fish assemblage change in BSJ and CPLL over 40 years. Temperature was found to be the best predictor of red drum habitat selection in Bayou St. John, while salinity and change in depth also were found to be good predictors for certain sites. Potential prey item abundance did not appear to influence habitat selection. Using data from 1971 – 2010, nearshore habitats in CPLL were affected by Hurricane Katrina, but have sense …

Devil In A Hula Skirt: Comparative Conservation Efforts Between The United States And Australia Using Two Endemic Species As Case Studies, Sarah Catherine Kuchinsky

Undergraduate Honors Thesis Collection

There is a biodiversity crisis in our midst. An abundance of technology and innovation in the last 200 years has revamped our world but at the cost of pushing many species to extinction. Since the passing of the Endangered Species Act by Congress in 1973, more than 100 species in the United States have disappeared (Wilson 2006). The International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) stats that "19,265 species out of the 59,507 so far assessed as threatened with extinction," (IUCN 2011). Extinction is the result of a combination of factors caused by human environmental disturbance. Disturbances in the …

Implications Of Land Development On Nomadic Pastoralism: Ecological Relaxation And Biosocial Diversity In Human Populations, Hannah R. Bradley

Scripps Senior Theses

Nomadic pastoralism is an ancient subsistence strategy, historically balanced and in continuity with sedentary societies. Sedentarization of nomads occurs normally because of ecological disasters, economic opportunities, urbanization, and government policy. In this paper, I examine the effect of changing land use patterns on nomadic pastoral populations in Asia, Africa, and the Middle East, using biogeographic methodology to further explore the contemporary relationship between humans and their environments. Nomadic population information gleaned from diverse ethnographic studies, and GIS data on anthropogenic biome distributions, were used to calculate changes in nomadic population, area of developed land, and nomadic/sedentary population density over the …

Pre-Whaling Genetic Diversity And Population Ecology In Eastern Pacific Gray Whales: Insights From Ancient Dna And Stable Isotopes, S Elizabeth Alter, Seth D. Newsome, Stephen R. Palumbi

Publications and Research

Commercial whaling decimated many whale populations, including the eastern Pacific gray whale, but little is known about how population dynamics or ecology differed prior to these removals. Of particular interest is the possibility of a large population decline prior to whaling, as such a decline could explain the ,5-fold difference between genetic estimates of prior abundance and estimates based on historical records. We analyzed genetic (mitochondrial control region) and isotopic information from modern and prehistoric gray whales using serial coalescent simulations and Bayesian skyline analyses to test for a pre-whaling decline and to examine prehistoric genetic diversity, population dynamics and …

Evolution Of The Bacteriorhodopsin Gene Bop In Haloarchaea, Maulik Jitesh Jani

Honors Scholar Theses

Rhodopsins are among the most studied protein families. They all incorporate a light based chromophore and an opsin. They are found in all three domains of life and can be found in diverse environments, such as the membrane of the haloarchaea, Haloarcula (Haa) marismortui, growing on salt flats in Death Valley, to within human tissues and deep sea water (Briggs and Spudich 2005). Rhodopsins can serve multifarious purposes, from phototaxis away from harmful light to efficient energy generation. Bacteriorhodopsin is the best studied rhodopsin in haloarchaea. The evolutionary pattern of bacteriorhodopsin through its gene, bop, is the main focus of …

An Approach For Use Of Dual Frequency Identification Sonar (Didson) To Quantify Behavioral Aspects Of Piscivory At Ecologically Relevant Time And Space Scales, Victoria E. Price

Master's Theses

Predator-prey interactions of large vagile fishes are difficult to study in the ocean due to limitations in the space and time requirements for observations. Small-scale direct underwater observations by divers (<10m >radius) and large-scale hydroacoustic surveys (10s - 100s km2) are traditional approaches. However, large piscivorous predators identify and attack prey at the scale of meters to tens of meters. Dual- Frequency Identification Sonar, or DIDSON, is a high-resolution acoustic camera operating in the MHz range that provides detailed continuous video-like imaging of objects out to 30 m range. This technology can be used to observe predator-prey interactions at ecologically …