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Pqf News: Newsletter Of The Partridge, Quail, And Francolin Specialist Group 13/14-19 (1999-2003), Iucn Species Survival Commission, Birdlife International, World Pheasant Association

Galliformes Specialist Group and Affiliated Societies: Newsletters

The purpose of the newsletter is to receive details of new projects, re-assessments of the status of relevant species, interesting discoveries or observations, taxonomic changes, conservation successes or threats and anything else that members might find interesting. We would like in future issues to produce a list of relevant publications which appear during the year in order to keep members up-to-date with current information. We will publish requests for contacts or information, advertisements for conferences and workshops and news of projects and project proposals.

Issue 13/14 (Spring/Autumn 1999)

Action Plan revision: A progress report, Richard Fuller

First nest records for …

Inventory Of The Central Mixed-Grass Prairie Ecoregion Of Kansas And Nebraska, Hillary Loring, Mike Bullerman, Kelly Kindscher

Nebraska Game and Parks Commission: White Papers, Conference Presentations, and Manuscripts

An inventory of potential high quality mixed-grass prairie ranches and large properties within the Central Mixed-Grass Prairie Ecoregion of Kansas and Nebraska was conducted in the spring and summer of 1999. Emphasis during the inventory was placed on identification of relatively intact landscapes. Significant ranches within those untilled landscapes were visited. An interview of the owners or managers of those properties was coupled with a survey of the vegetation. Assessments of quality were based on species composition, continuity of ground cover, observations of livestock impact, and viability of the community types present.

The objectives of this study were to:

1) …

Identification Of Muscidifurax Spp. By Polymerase Chain Reaction-Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism, David B. Taylor, Allen L. Szalanski

Department of Entomology: Faculty Publications

Polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) analysis of the nuclear ribosomal ITS1 region was used to differentiate Muscidifurax (Hymenoptera: Pteromalidae) species which are parasitoids of filth fly pupae. Three restriction enzymes, Dpn 11, Mse I, and Taq I, produced restriction patterns which were diagnostic for the four species analyzed, M. raptor, M. raptorellus, M. uniraptor, and M. zaraptor. Seven other restriction enzymes were able to differentiate one or more of the species and can be used alone, or in combination with other enzymes, to verify identifications. No intraspecific variation was observed among the populations examined. The utility of the …

Nightly And Seasonal Movements Of Boiga Irregularis On Guam, Mark Tobin, Robert Sugihara, Patricia Pochop, Michael Linnell

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Brown tree snakes (Boiga irregularis, BTS), inadvertently introduced to the island of Guam shortly after World War II, have had catastrophic effects on the native fauna of this U.S. territory. We used radio-telemetry to monitor daytime refugia and nightly movements of 60 BTS (30 during each of two seasonal periods) to determine the extent of nightly, weekly, and monthly movements. Eighty-three percent of subadult daytime sightings were in trees, compared to only 49% of adult daytime sightings. Most measures of movement did not vary with seasonal period, sex, or age class. BTS moved an average of 64 m …

Report Of The Grains Working Group (Rice, Sorghum And Wheat), Donna Mitten

United States Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service / University of Nebraska-Lincoln: Faculty Publications

The grains working group identified three crops which have sexually compatible weedy relatives likely to be subject to gene flow in US agricultural systems (Table 1). The ease of cross pollination and the successful production of a fertile hybrid vary with each case. If the selective advantage of an introduced trait is positive, however, introgression of the new trait into an existing weed population is possible. The risk of ecological harm is then dependent upon the habitat of the weed. In the crop-weed complexes considered here, in which the habitat of the weedy relative is limited to agricultural systems, the …

Finding Of No Significant Impact Bank Stabilization Project Ponca State Park, Nebraska Missouri National Recreational River

United States Army Corps of Engineers, Omaha District

An environmental assessment has been prepared that summarizes the expected effects of the proposed project on the existing environment. This is a project proposed by the Omaha District, Corps of Engineers to halt the erosion occurring along the riverfront at Ponca State Park in Dixon County, Nebraska, and protect the access road to the park's public boat ramp. This project is authorized under the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act amendment of 1978 (Public Law 95-625). The proposed project is located along the right bank of the Missouri River between River Miles (RM) 753.9 and 753.5 at Ponca State Park about …

A Review Of Issues Pertaining To Transgenic Turfgrasses, Paul G. Johnson, Terrance P. Riordan

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Recombinant DNA technology is a rapidly growing field in plant and animal breeding. This technology involves the transfer of pieces of DNA, or genes, regardless of the organisms involved or how they are related. Transformation procedures in plants were first developed for important crop and model plant systems. Although turfgrass management and production is one of the fastest growing areas of agriculture, genetic transformation of turfgrasses lags behind that of many other important crop plants. Turfgrasses are becoming more important primarily because of their association with the ever-increasing urban population. The size of the turfgrass seed market is second only …

Slavery In The Platte Region, H. Jason Combs

Nebraska Anthropologist

Missouri's bid for statehood reflected the struggle to extend the southern slave culture onto the western frontier of settlement. The Northwest Ordinance of 1787 and the Missouri Compromise set specific geographic boundaries for the extension of slavery, which in turn created distinctive patterns of migration and settlement on the frontier. The Platte Purchase region of northwest Missouri is one of the areas that reflect slavery's influence on settlement. This paper will discuss slave ownership, the need for slavery, and explain the geographic distribution of slaves in the Platte region.

Review Of People And The Land Through Time: Linking Ecology And History By Emily W. B. Russell, Emily Greenwald

Great Plains Research: A Journal of Natural and Social Sciences (through 2013)

While some environmental historians have used the insights of the natural sciences in their historical work, Emily Russell, offering a scientist's perspective, challenges ecologists to incorporate historians' methods and insights into their studies. In People and the Land through Time, Russell outlines working principles for the "historical ecologist," a scholar who traces past human impacts on particular ecosystems. She makes it clear that her emphasis is on ecological systems rather than humans, but argues that ecosystems can't be fully understood without accounting for how human actions have affected them.

The book provides an introduction to methods and a variety …

Social And Biological Aspects Of Non-Native Red Fox Management In California, Jeffrey C. Lewis, Kevin L. Sallee, Richard T. Golightly Jr., Ronald M. Jurek

Vertebrate Pest Conference Proceedings: 18th (1998)

Since the late 1800s, non-native red foxes have been introduced in California for fur farming and fox hunting. Dispersal, population growth, and extensive translocations by humans have aided the expansion of the nonnative fox population throughout many of the lowland and coastal areas of the state. Since the 1980s, non-native red foxes have been recognized as predators of a number of endangered species. Trapping and euthanizing non-native red foxes have been used as methods to protect these endangered species, but have been opposed by some members of the public. Opposition by animal rights groups to red fox trapping and euthanization …

Twenty-Five Years Of Managing Birds Associated With Buildings At The University Of California, Berkeley, Arthur J. Slater

Vertebrate Pest Conference Proceedings: 18th (1998)

Information concerning 19 species of birds associated with 28 buildings on the University of California at Berkeley campus has been collected for 25 years. Sixteen species are included under three minor associations (temporary roosters, building invaders, and species that nest on (or in) buildings in small numbers). Barn owls and ravens have caused intense, though localized problems. Two additional species (cliff swallows and feral pigeons) have caused major problems. Feral pigeons have caused the most difficult problems to resolve. Case histories are used to describe problems associated with these birds, and control strategies for them. Cooper's hawks have nested in …

Ecologic Studies Of Rodent Reservoirs: Their Relevance For Human Health, James N. Mills, James E. Childs

Zoonotics and Wildlife Disease: Publications

Within the past few years, the number of “new” human diseases associated with small-mammal reservoirs has increased dramatically, stimulating renewed interest in reservoir ecology research. A consistent, integrative approach to such research allows direct comparisons between studies, contributes to the efficient use of resources and data, and increases investigator safety. We outline steps directed toward understanding vertebrate host ecology as it relates to human disease and illustrate the relevance of each step by using examples from studies of hosts associated with rodent-borne hemorrhagic fever viruses.

Measuring & Monitering Plant Populations, Caryl L. Elzinga, Daniel W. Salzer, John W. Willoughby

United States Bureau of Land Management: Staff Publications

This technical reference describes the role of effective monitoring and provides a step-by-step overview of the entire monitoring process for single plant species. The challenges of successful monitoring involve efficient and specific design and a commitment to implementation of the monitoring project, from data collection to reporting and using results. The material in this reference is presented in a logical progression from planning and objective setting, designing the methodology, and taking the measurements in the field to analyzing and presenting the data and making the necessary management responses. However, many of the steps occur simultaneously or provide feedback for the …

Flea News 55 (January 1998), Robert E. Lewis

Flea News

Miscellanea

Flea species

Material request

Siphonaptera literature

Mammalian Reservoirs And The Changing Epidemiology Of Rabies In The United States, James E. Childs, John W. Krebs, Charles E. Rupprecht

Vertebrate Pest Conference Proceedings: 18th (1998)

The epidemiology of rabies in the United States has changed dramatically over the past few decades. Greater than 90% of all animal rabies cases reported annually to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention now occur in wildlife, whereas before 1960 the majority were domestic animals. The principal rabies reservoirs today are wild carnivores and bats, infected with many different types of rabies virus variants. Annual reporting of human deaths have fallen from more than 100 at the turn of the century to one to six per year, despite major outbreaks of animal rabies in several distinct geographic areas. Most …

Geographical Variation In Male Courtship Behavior And Sexual Isolation In Wolf Spiders Of The Genus Schizocosa, Gary L. Miller, Gary L. Stratton, Patricia R. Miller, Eileen Hebets

Eileen Hebets Publications

We surveyed 12 populations of the wolf spider Schizocosa crassipes (Walckenaer) and S. nr. crassipes in Tennessee, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Florida, in the United States, to determine the extent of variation in male courtship behavior when observed in standard laboratory conditions. We observed variation in both the frequency of occurrence and the sequence of the four principal male courtship behaviors and, when compared statistically, most of these behaviors differed between populations. Although there was no clinal pattern in the frequency of courtship behavior, we observed geographically consistent patterns in the sequence in which male courtship behaviors are displayed. We conducted …

Influence Of Soybean Canopy Closure On Predator Abundances And Predation On Helicoverpa Zea (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) Eggs, Aaron C. Anderson, Kenneth V. Yeargan

Entomology Papers from Other Sources

Planting soybeans [Glycine max (L.) Merrill early and in narrow rows is the most effective cultural control for preventing outbreaks of Helicoverpa zea (Boddie) in soybean. Soybeans planted early in narrow rows close canopy earlier in the season compared with soybeans planted late and in wide rows (i.e., leaves of plants from adjacent rows touch each other and eventually become densely interwoven). Although several lines of research have established dramatically higher mortality for corn earworm eggs or small larvae in closed canopies, none has found the cause. In 1994 and 1995, we planted soybeans in every combination of early …

1998 Platte River Basin Ecosystem Symposium Proceedings

Water Current Newsletter

No abstract provided.

Computer Model For Simulating Almond Moth (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae) Population Dynamics, James E. Throne, David W. Hagstrum, Jan Nawrot

United States Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service / University of Nebraska-Lincoln: Faculty Publications

We developed a computer model for simulating the population dynamics of the almond moth, Cadra cautella (Walker). The model incorporates previously published life history data for the almond moth developing on stored peanuts, Arachis hypogaea L., including stage-specific immature developmental time and survival and adult longevity and fecundity. The model was modified so that it also could be used to simulate almond moth population dynamics on stored, dried citrus pulp and stored corn (Zea mays L.). We tested the validity of the model by using 4 previously published data sets. The model was useful for interpreting population dynamics observed …

Biological Control: An Important Component In Integrated Management Of Musca Domestica (Diptera: Muscidae) In Caged-Layer Poultry Houses In Buenos Aires, Argentina, Diana C. Crespo, Roberto E. Lecuona, Jerome A. Hogsette

United States Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service / University of Nebraska-Lincoln: Faculty Publications

An Integrated Management program to control Musca domestica L. was developed by evaluating cultural + chemical control, cultural + biological control + granular bait (IMP 1), and cultural + chemical + biological control + granular bait (IMP 2) in poultry houses in Argentina. Adult fly density was estimated by a modified Scudder-grid method. Percentage of house fly parasitism was estimated by direct and indirect methods. Spalangia endius Walker and Muscidifurax raptor Girault & Sanders were released at a rate of 10 parasitoids/hen/week. Complete absence of control practices allowed a sustained growth of the fly population. When larvicides and adulticides were …

Attempted Relocation Of A Ring-Billed Gull Roost At Washington National Report, Jessica Dewey, Martin Lowney

Eastern Wildlife Damage Management Conference: 8th (1997)

Gulls, particularly ring-billed gulls [Larus delawarensis ], have been identified as a threat to aircraft operations at Washington National Airport (now Ronald Reagan National Airport) in northern Virginia. Through bird surveys conducted in 1992, 1993, and 1997, an estimated 7,000 gulls were observed roosting during winter on the Potomac River near the airport. A harassment program was run on 5 consecutive evenings, 24-28 February 1997, to relocate the roosting gulls. Six to 8 people shot pyrotechnics from shore and 2 boats for 2 hours prior to dusk each evening. Each evening the gulls arrived consistently later than the prior …

Microclimate Of An Aboriginal Winter Campsite At Wanuskewin Heritage Park, Saskatoom, E. A. Ripley, O. W. Archibold, C. Jackson, E. J. Walker

Great Plains Research: A Journal of Natural and Social Sciences (through 2013)

The microclimate of an aboriginal winter campsite, set in an incised, south-facing meander of a small creek, is compared to the conditions on the adjacent open prairie at Wanuskewin Heritage Park, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. Maximum and minimum temperatures and wind speeds were measured daily, on the prairie and in the valley, along with temperatures in a modern canvas tipi erected in the valley. Maximum temperatures tended to be about 1 °C higher in the valley, and 2 °C higher in the tipi, than on the prairie, while minima were 1-2 °C lower. Wind speeds were reduced to about 50% in the …

Bird Abundance At Accomack County Southern Landfill, Melfa, Virginia, In Relation To Various Management Activities, Laura Francoeur, Martin Lowney

Eastern Wildlife Damage Management Conference: 8th (1997)

Birds, especially gulls (Larus spp.), are attracted to landfills, and when landfills are close to airports, birds can pose a threat to aircraft safety. We conducted a 1-year ecological study to address concerns of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and Accomack County, Virginia, officials over potential wildlife hazards caused by the Accomack County Southern Landfill. During 48 surveys conducted from December 1995 to December 1996, we observed 112,693 birds at the landfill ( x =503). Nine species represented 97% of all observations. Bird numbers varied during the year, increasing during winter and declining during summer. Bird abundance appeared unaffected …

Use Of Rubidium To Label Lysiphlebus Testaceipes (Hymenoptera: Braconidae), A Parasitoid Of Greenbugs (Homoptera: Aphididae), For Dispersal Studies, Odair A. Fernandes, Robert J. Wright, Karl H. Baumgarten, Z. B. Mayo

Department of Entomology: Faculty Publications

A reliable method of labeling is needed to study dispersal of the braconid parasitoid, Lysiphlebus testaceipes (Cresson), an important biological control of greenbugs, Schizaphis graminum (Rondani), on grain sorghum, Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench. The feasibility of using aqueous solutions of rubidium chloride (RbCl) applied as a foliar spray or soil drench to label greenbugs and L. testaceipes developing within greenbugs was studied. Laboratory and field studies were conducted to identify the minimal concentration of RbCl to assure labeling of greenbugs and wasps, persistence of Rb throughout the wasp's life span, mobility of Rb to unsprayed sorghum leaves, and feasibility of …

Diet Of A Relict Population Of The Eastern Woodrat In Nebraska, Hugh H. Genoways, Patricia W. Freeman, Mary K. Clausen

University of Nebraska State Museum: Mammalogy Papers

The relict population of Neotoma floridana occurring along the Niobrara River in north-central Nebraska was found to have a diet composed of 38 types of food items of which 37 types were plants. Unique features of the summer diet of this population were a higher than expected use of red cedar (Juniperus virginiana) and invertebrates as food items.

Flea News 54 (June 1997), Robert E. Lewis

Flea News

Miscellanea

Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) update

Nomenclatural tidbits

Siphonaptera literature

The Probe, Issue 175 – April 1997

The Probe: Newsletter of the National Animal Damage Control Association

Building a BASH Program* ("BASH stands for Bird Aircraft Strike Hazard), by Eugene LeBoeuf, Bird Strike Scientist, HQ Air Force Safety Center, Kirtland AFB, New Mexico, and President, NADCA
Video Review: Pocker Gopher Trapping by Ken Carver

More Abstracts Published at the 3rd Annual Conference of The Wildlife Society
Social and economic assessment of black bear damage in coastal North Carolina, by Robert C. Maddrey and M.R. Pelton
Options for wildlife contraception in California, by Terry M. Mansfield
Cooperative beaver management in the Riding Mountain National Park region, by Constance E.L. Menzies, Richard K Baydack, and Jack E. DuBois
Wildlife …

Effects Of Shelterbelts On The Aerial Distribution Of Insect Pests In Muskmelon, Mary Ellen Dix, Laurie Hodges, James R. Brandle, Robert J. Wright, Mark O. Harrell

Department of Entomology: Faculty Publications

Sticky traps were used to measure how tree shelterbelts influence the abundance of crop insect pests and beneficial arthropods in muskmelon (Cucumis melo L.) plots in eastern Nebraska. Abundance of striped cucumber beetles {Acalymma vittatum Fabricius (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae)} , southern corn rootworms {Diabrotica undecimpunctata howardi Barber (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae)}, and northern corn rootworms {D. barberi Smith & Lawrence (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae)} was similar in exposed and sheltered plots. Western corn rootworms {D. virgifera LeConte (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae)} were significantly more abundant in exposed plots. More lady beetles (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae) and ichneumonid wasps (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae) were caught on traps …

Nesting Piping Plover And Least Tern On The Kansas River, William H. Busby, Daniel W. Mulhern, P. Gregory Kramos, David A. Rintoul, William C. Tuttle

United States Fish and Wildlife Service: Publications

A portion of the Kansas River in northeastern Kansas was surveyed by boat and air in 1996 and 1997 for nesting colonies of piping plover (Charadrius melodus) and least tern (Sterna antillarum). Both species were found breeding on sandbars at a total of five sites along a 30-km reach of the Kansas River. In 1996, at least two breeding pair of piping plovers and seven breeding pair of least terns were documented. In 1997, at least one pair of piping plovers and five pairs of least terns bred. These are the first known breeding records for …

Woody Vegetation Expansion And Continuing Declines In Open Channel Habitat On The Platte River In Nebraska, Paul J. Currier

Proceedings of the North American Crane Workshop

Aerial videography in 1988 and 1994 of the same selected segments of the Big Bend reach of the Platte River in central Nebraska was compared. During this 6-year period, channel area declined 4 to 41 % (median 26%). In river segments where the channel had already narrowed significantly and at sites where channel habitat is actively managed declines were less (17-18%). These substantial changes occurred during a time that included a relatively low flow period (1990-92). Flows during the summer gertttination and establishment period (mid-May through August) for cottonwood (Populus deltoides) and willow (Salix spp.), the …