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Nebraska Cooperative Fish And Wildlife Research Unit—Usgs: Report Of Activities October 2007 – October 2008

Nebraska Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit: Annual Reports

CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION . 1
PERSONNEL AND COOPERATORS . 3
Unit Personnel . 3
Coordinating Committee Members . 5
Cooperators. 6
MILESTONES . 9
AWARDS AND RECOGNITIONS . 10
THESES AND DISERTATIONS . 10
PROJECTS IN FISHERY SCIENCE . 13
Geographic Trends in Contamination of Nebraska’s Surface Waters as Indexed by Sex Steroids of Common Carp . 15
Impact of White Perch on Walleye at Branched Oak and Pawnee Reservoirs . 16
Population Assessment of Channel Catfish in Nebraska . 17
Predators of White Perch at Branched Oak and Pawnee Reservoirs . 18
Recruitment of Walleye and White Bass in Irrigation …

University Of Nebraska- Lincoln: Fact Book 2007-2008

University of Nebraska-Lincoln Administration: Reports, Papers, Publications, and Presentations

Fact Book Table of Contents

General Information

UNL Core Values .............................................................................. 4

Role and Mission Statement ............................................................. 5

Institutional & Professional Accreditations ..................................................... 8

UNL Organizational Chart ................................................................... 10

Student Credit Hours

UNL Student Credit Hours Total Fall & Spring Semester, by College, 5 Year Trend ................... 11

UNL Student Credit Hours Total Fall, by College, 5 Year Trend .................................................. 12

UNL Student Credit Hours Total Spring, By College, 5 Year Trend ............................................. 13

Summer Sessions Student Credit Hours ...................................................... 14

Retention, Degrees and Majors

UNL Student Retention & Graduation Rate Analysis ...................................... 15

Total Degrees Conferred by UNL Fiscal …

Sharpshooting Suburban White-Tailed Deer Reduces Deer–Vehicle Collisions, Anthony J. Denicola, Scott C. Williams

Human–Wildlife Interactions

Too many deer–vehicle collisions (DVCs) are one of the primary reasons local governments implement lethal deer management programs. However, there are limited data to demonstrate that a reduction in deer (Odocoileus spp.) densities will result in a decline in DVCs. We conducted sharpshooting programs in 3 suburban communities to reduce deer numbers and to address rising DVCs. Annual or periodic population estimates were conducted using both helicopter snow counts and aerial infrared counts to assess population trends. Management efforts were conducted from 3 to 7 years. Local deer herds were reduced by 54%, 72%, and 76%, with resulting reductions …

Demographics Of Non-Hunted White-Tailed Deer Populations In Suburban Areas, Anthony J. Denicola, Dwayne R. Etter, Thomas Almendinger

Human–Wildlife Interactions

Burgeoning deer populations in urban and suburban areas, along with the inherent problems stemming from this increase, are becoming increasingly widespread. To address these problems, wildlife biologists need quality baseline data of herd composition for harvest and treatment forecasts for management and fertility control research programs. In this study, we provide white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) population data from 4 areas where localized suburban white-tailed deer populations were substantially reduced utilizing sharpshooting as a management tool. In each area, legal hunting was nonexistent for >10 years preceding the sharpshooting program. The areas ranged in size from 300 ha to …

Supporting The Scholarship Of Teaching And Learning At Liberal Arts Colleges, Dolores Peters, David Schodt, Mary Walczak

To Improve the Academy: A Journal of Educational Development

Although the liberal arts college, with its traditional focus on teaching, may seem like a natural environment for the scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL), few such institutions participate in national SoTL initiatives. Our associates’ experience since 2001 suggests a model for supporting SoTL in teaching-intensive contexts based on faculty ownership, a focus on general education, and some emerging rules of engagement. Because faculty reward systems must validate SoTL if it is to become part of the institutional culture, we also describe one department’s efforts to reform its review criteria in order to define scholarly activity broadly.

Human-Induced Changes In The Hydrology Of The Western United States, Tim P. Barnett, David W. Pierce, Hugo G. Hidalgo, Celine Bonfils, Benjamin D. Santer, Tapash Das, Govindasamy Bala, Andrew W. Wood, Toru Nozawa, Arthur A. Mirin, Daniel R. Cayan, Michael D. Dettinger

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

Observations have shown that the hydrological cycle of the western United States changed significantly over the last half of the 20th century. We present a regional, multivariable climate change detection and attribution study, using a high-resolution hydrologic model forced by global climate models, focusing on the changes that have already affected this primarily arid region with a large and growing population. The results show that up to 60% of the climate-related trends of river flow, winter air temperature, and snow pack between 1950 and 1999 are human-induced. These results are robust to perturbation of study variates and methods. They portend, …

Casnr Salute To Graduates, John Owens

John Owens: Speeches and Appearances

We appreciate your being with us this afternoon as we celebrate the accomplishments of tomorrow's graduates from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Thank you for attending and, congratulations to the class of 2008! This ceremony has become both a fixture and a tradition in the College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources. As a matter of fact, it took the national "First Place Award" in a 2006 competition that was open to all universities in the United States.

A Guide To The Natural History Of The Central Platte Valley Of Nebraska, Paul A. Johnsgard

Papers in Ornithology

This book has been written in the hope that visitors to the Platte Valley may gain a greater appreciation for it through learning some of its animals and plants in addition to the Platte Valley's star spring attraction, its sandhill cranes. Besides the cranes, we have a world-class migration of geese and ducks, a slightly later migration of shorebirds, including what is probably the buff-breasted sandpiper's most important spring staging area between its South American wintering grounds and its arctic breeding grounds. Nebraska also has what may be the largest surviving population of greater prairie-chickens of any state, and an …

Unresolved Issues With The Assessment Of Multidecadal Global Land Surface Temperature Trends, Roger A. Pielke Sr., Christopher A. Davey, Dev Niyogi, Souleymane Fall, Jesse Steinweg-Woods, Ken Hubbard, Xiaomao Lin, Ming Cai, Young-Kwon Lim, Hong Li, John Nielsen-Gammon, Kevin Gallo, Robert Hale, Rezaul Mahmood, Stuart Foster, Richard T. Mcnider, Peter Blanken

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

This paper documents various unresolved issues in using surface temperature trends as a metric for assessing global and regional climate change. A series of examples ranging from errors caused by temperature measurements at a monitoring station to the undocumented biases in the regionally and globally averaged time series are provided. The issues are poorly understood or documented and relate to micrometeorological impacts due to warm bias in nighttime minimum temperatures, poor siting of the instrumentation, effect of winds as well as surface atmospheric water vapor content on temperature trends, the quantification of uncertainties in the homogenization of surface temperature data, …

Occurrence And Biological Effect Of Exogenous Steroids In The Elkhorn River, Nebraska, Usa, Alan S. Kolok, Daniel D. Snow, Satomi Kohno, Marlo K. Sellin, Louis J. Guillette Jr.

Nebraska Water Center: Faculty Publications

Recent studies of surface waters in North America, Japan, and Europe have reported the presence of steroidogenic agents as contaminants. The current study has three objectives: 1) to determine if steroidogenic compounds are present in the Elkhorn River, 2) to determine if sediments collected from the Elkhorn River can act as a source of steroidogenic compounds to aquatic organisms, and 3) to determine if site-specific biological effects are apparent in the hepatic gene expression of fathead minnows. Evidence was obtained using three approaches: 1) deployment of polar organic chemical integrative samplers (POCIS), 2) deployment of caged fathead minnows, and 3) …

Water Current, Volume 39, No. 4, Fall 2007

Water Current Newsletter

Spring Seminars Tap Range of State, National Issues In 13-Lecture UNL Public Series By Steve Ress
April Water Law, Policy and Science Conference To Focus on Great Plains Water Quality Challenges
China’s water quality issues resonate at home
Meet the Faculty
Map Shows Groundwater Decline Slowed By Kelly Helm Smith
USGS Study Identifies Major Source of Nitrate in Precipitation
New Ph.D. Specialization in Applied Ecology at UNL By Tala Awada, Ph.D.
Water Resources Advisory Panel Holds October Progress Meeting By Jessica Harder and Steve Ress
Nebraska’s Top-10 Water Challenges
2007 UNL Water Colloquium & Water Sciences Laboratory Open House(Friday, Oct. …

Mcnair News, Volume 2, Number 1, Fall 2007

McNair News: Newsletter of the University of Nebraska–Lincoln McNair Scholars Program

Scholars Cap Summer Research Experience with Presentations at California McNair Symposium
Senior Scholar Research Projects
Eleventh Annual MKN McNair Heartland Research Conference, Kansas City, Missouri
Twelfth Annual Rocky Mountain McNair Scholars Research Symposium, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado
McNair Scholar Abby Visty Presents during Plenary Session at Ronald E. McNair Scholars Symposium
Reflections on the McNair Scholars Symposium by Emily Haferbier
UNL McNair Program Earns Funding for Another Five Years
McNair Junior Scholars Welcomed at Annual McNair New Scholars Retreat
Kudos to McNair Scholars: Todd Whitehill & Maegan Stevens-Liska
Faculty Perspective: Cody Hollist, Assistant Professor, Child, Youth & Family …

An Extraordinary Patch Of Feral Hog Damage In Florida Before And After Initiating Hog Removal, Richard M. Engeman, John Woolard, Henry T. Smith, Jean Bourassa, Bernice U. Constantin, Daniel Griffin

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Feral hogs (Sus scrofa) are a particularly destructive exotic species in the United States (U.S. Department of Agriculture 1999), including Florida, which, along with Hawaii, is one of 2 states cited as having the most severe invasive species problems (U.S. Congress 1993) in the country. First introduced to North America by the European colonists (Conover 2007) hogs were one of the first invasive exotic species to take hold in Florida. They can transmit disease to livestock (Hartin et al. 2007) and humans (Conover and Vail 2007). They impose a variety of negative environmental impacts, including habitat degradation and …

From The Field: An Extraordinary Patch Of Feral Hog Damage In Florida Before And After Initiating Hog Removal, John Woolard, Henry T. Smith, Jean Bourassa, Bernice U. Constantin, Daniel Griffin

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Feral hogs (Sus scrofa) are a particularly destructive exotic species in the United States (U.S. Department of Agriculture 1999), including Florida, which, along with Hawaii, is one of 2 states cited as having the most severe invasive species problems (U.S. Congress 1993) in the country. First introduced to North America by the European colonists (Conover 2007) hogs were one of the first invasive exotic species to take hold in Florida. They can transmit disease to livestock (Hartin et al. 2007) and humans (Conover and Vail 2007). They impose a variety of negative environmental impacts, including habitat degradation and …

Adaptive And Economic Management Methods For Feral Hog Control In Florida, Richard M. Engeman, Bernice U. Constantin, Stephanie A. Shwiff, Henry T. Smith, John Woolard, John Allen, John Dunlap

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Feral hogs (Sus scrofa) negatively impact the environment in most places around the world where they have been introduced into the wild. In many places, hog removal is essential to protect special habitats, in particular, wetlands. This paper describes techniques developed for use in adaptive management approaches to enhance hog removal efforts in Florida, as well as methods to evaluate the economic impacts from hog management. A valuable adaptive management tool that can be an easily applied index to monitor feral hog activity is track plots. This method has been effective for monitoring hog distribution and relative abundance, …

Green Iguanas (Iguana Iguana): The Unintended Consequence Of Sound Wildlife Management Practices In A South Florida Park, Walter E. Meshaka Jr., Henry T. Smith, Elizabeth Golden, Jon A. Moore, Stephanie Fitchett, Ernest M. Cowan, Richard M. Engeman, Stacey R. Sekscienski, Heather L. Cress

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

We examined the demographic response of the Green Iguana (Iguana iguana) to the removal of Raccoons in an urban maritime state park in southern Florida. The rapid growth of iguanas to sexual maturity in an underexploited, if not vacant, niche contributed to the rapid recruitment of a large and growing population during the four and one half years since removal of its limiting predator. We proffer here that at sites where Green Iguanas and high density Raccoons are syntopic, future Raccoon removal programs should be concurrent with an equally concerted effort to remove resident Green Iguanas. In this …

American Society Of Parasitologists Newsletter, V. 29, No. 2, Summer 2007, Scott Lyell Gardner

American Society of Parasitologists: Newsletter

An issue of the American Society of Parasitologists' quarterly newsletter, also called the Journal of Parasitology Newsletter.

In Memoriam Robert N. Randall, October 26, 1915 - January 30, 2007, Clark Talkington

The Prairie Naturalist

Among his friends, Bob Randall will be remembered as a caring, gentle man. Bob was one of those rare individuals who had a keen awareness of everyone around him. In social settings, he would make sure that everyone was comfortable, and it was always clear that he was genuinely concerned about everyone. Those who knew him will greatly miss his gentle nature and enthusiasm for birds. He never got caught up in all of his achievements. He had a sense of balance to his life which was evident in his many interests including birding and bird banding, rocks and minerals, …

April 2007 - Advisory Council Meeting

ALEC Committee Minutes

No abstract provided.

Ard News April 2007

Agricultural Research Division: News and Annual Reports

CONTENTS:

Comments from the Dean
Layman Awards
Anna Elliott Proposals
Helpful Hints - USDA Grant Proposals
ARD "Service Objectives"
New or Revised Projects January and February 2007
Proposals Submitted for Federal Grants January and February 2007
Grants and Contracts Received for January and February 2007

American Society Of Parasitologists Newsletter, V. 29, No. 1, Spring 2007, Scott Lyell Gardner

American Society of Parasitologists: Newsletter

An issue of the American Society of Parasitologists' quarterly newsletter, also called the Journal of Parasitology Newsletter.

Review Of The Search For A Common Language: Environmental Writing And Education Edited By Melody Graulich And Paul Crumbley, Denise Tillery

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

This edited collection grew out of a symposium held at Utah State University in Logan in 2002. According to the editors, the symposium's purpose was to "publicly explore the particular ways environmental writing educates the public through a fusion of science and literary expression." The Search for a Common Language achieves that purpose by including short prose pieces-ranging from memoirs, essays on specific locations, and scientific papers - as well as poetry on natural themes. The range of topics and genres and the inclusion of poetry provide a variety of ways to talk about the environment and reach out to …

Review Of This Land: A Guide To Central National Forests By Robert H. Mohlenbrock, James R. Brandle

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

Robert Mohlenbrock's guide to the national forests of the central U.S. provides the traveling naturalist with a wealth of information on the wide array of national forest lands in the heart of the country. Part of a three-volume series of field guides, this volume covers the states of Louisiana, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, South Dakota, Texas, and Wyoming. While most of the forests are along the western and eastern borders of the Great Plains, readers will find a detailed travelog for a National Forest within a day's drive of most areas within the region. While not the focus …

The Sower, Spring 2007

The Sower (CASNR Alumni Newsletter)

Contents:

Environmental Studies Degree Leads to Ideal Job for Alumna
Rodeo Association Promotes Sport, Moves Annual Event to Lincoln
CASNRAA Members More than just Numbers
Your CASNR Alumni Association
CASNRAA Football Reunion Builds Friendships, Funds Scholarships
Alumni Awards Presented at Football Reunion
Burr-Fedde Reunion a Success, Might Become a Regular Event
Salute to Graduates Recognizes CASNR Students’ Achievements

Review Of Harvest For Hope: A Guide To Mindful Eating By Jane Goodall With Gary Mcavoy And Gail Hudson, Charles A. Francis

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

One of the world's preeminent experts on primate behavior, author Jane Goodall now invests her boundless energy traveling and speaking about conservation. After years of studying chimpanzees in the Gombe National Park in Tanzania, Goodall found their very existence threatened by poachers, by encroachment of farming into their habitat, and by global forces far from their wild environment. She is now on a mission to inform the public about what is wrong with our society and its impact on the planet. Harvest for Hope catalogs the problems and provides practical solutions.

Bird-Friendly Development Guidelines

Fatal Light Awareness Program (FLAP)

INTRODUCTION
• Background
• Need for Policy and Action
• Policy Context
• Relevance to New, Existing and Heritage Buildings

DESIGN-BASED DEVELOPMENT STRATEGIES FOR BIRD-FRIENDLY BUILDINGS
• Glass
• Visual Markers
• Strategies for Creating Visual Markers
• Strategies for Muting Reflections

LIGHT POLLUTION
• External Lighting Fixtures
• Types of Lighting
• Preferred Lighting
• Discouraged Lighting

BUILDING MANAGEMENT OPERATIONS
• Reducing Light Pollution from Interior Lights
• Cleaning During the Day
• Internal Location of Greenery

SITE DESIGN STRATEGIES
• Lighting
• Other Site Features
• Comprehensive Bird-Friendly Site Strategy

CONCLUSION
• Glossary

Environmental Magnetic Records Of Mid-Late Pleistocene Drift Sedimentary Sequences From The Antarctic Peninsula, Pacific Margin, A. Venuti, F. Florindo, A. Caburlotto

ANDRILL Related Publications of Affiliates

The Pacific Continental Margin of the Antarctic Peninsula was the area of interest of the Sediment Drift of The Antarctic Offshore Project (SEDANO Project). A paleomagnetic and environmental study was carried out on four Pleistocene sequences from Drift 7. High resolution measurements were performed on u-channels and about forty-three discrete samples. This work focus on the definition of the mineralogy of the main magnetic carriers which is still matter of debate and on the study of the short time variability of magnetite grain-size which results particularly evident during the last glaciation. ARM/κ magnetic parameter resulted to be a good record …

University Of Nebraska- Lincoln: Fact Book 2006-2007

University of Nebraska-Lincoln Administration: Reports, Papers, Publications, and Presentations

Fact Book Table of Contents

General Information

UNL Core Values.............................................................4

Role and Mission Statement..............................................................................5

Institutional & Professional Accreditations..........................................................8

UNL Organizational Chart ................................................................................10

Student Credit Hours

UNL Student Credit Hours Total Fall & Spring Semester, by College, 5 Year Trend....................11

UNL Student Credit Hours Total Fall, by College, 5 Year Trend...................................................12

UNL Student Credit Hours Total Spring, By College, 5 Year Trend...................................13

Summer Sessions Student Credit Hours................................14

Retention, Degrees and Majors

UNL Student Retention & Graduation Rate Analysis.....................................................................15

Total Degrees Conferred by UNL Fiscal Year, 10 Year Trend.......................................................16

Degrees Conferred by College, Type & Number ..........................................17

Types of Degrees Currently Offered …

What Students Do When They Study In The Library: Using Ethnographic Methods To Observe Student Behavior, Doug Suarez

E-JASL: Electronic Journal of Academic and Special Librarianship (1999-2009, Volumes 1-10)

Abstract

How do we know what students are really doing in the library when they are studying? This paper reports on a study that used qualitative methods to assess what students were doing during the winter term at Brock University. The goals were to try and establish if they were engaged in their studies when using the library and to see if the library nurtured academic engagement in its study areas.

Palaeontologic Characterisation And Analysis Of The And-1b Core, Andrill Mcmurdo Ice Shelf Project, Antarctica, R. Scherer, M. Hannah, P. Maffioli, D. Persico, C. Sjunneskog, C. P. Strong, M. Taviani, D. Winter, Andrill-Mis Science Team

ANDRILL Research and Publications

Fossils provide key data sets for the interpretation of the AND-1B core. Calcareous plankton and benthos provide the basis for palaeoenvironmental interpretations of both surface and bottom waters. Calcareous fossils are rare throughout, but occurrences noted are significant. Some calcareous fossils provide potential for age control via ⁸⁶Sr/⁸⁷Sr, and palaeoenvironmental information may come from Mg/Ca ratios as well as oxygen and carbon isotopes. Organic-walled microfossils provide an index of reworking and transport, as well as the identifi cation of a possible in situ Pliocene assemblage of previously unknown marine palynomorphs. Diatoms are abundant in the core, with …