Digital Commons Network^™

Anthropogenic Scarring Of Western Gray Whales (Eschrichtius Robustus), Amanda Bradford, David Weller, Yulia Ivaschenko, Alexander Burdin, Robert L. Brownell Jr.

United States Department of Commerce: Staff Publications

Western gray whales (Eschrichtius robustus) are critically endangered and anthropogenic threats, such as entanglement in fishing gear and collisions with vessels, may be acting to limit recovery of the population. Thus, examining the magnitude of such anthropogenic interactions using a scar-based approach is warranted. A multi-year (1995–2005) photo-identification study of western gray whales on their feeding ground off northeastern Sakhalin Island, Russia, has resulted in a large data set of digital and film images of 150 individuals. These images were reviewed and scored for anthropogenic scarring by recording the presence of visible scars resulting from fishing gear entanglement …

Behavior Of Melon-Headed Whales, Peponocephala Electra, Near Oceanic Islands, Robert L. Brownell Jr., Katherine Ralls, Simone Baumann-Pickering, M. Michael Poole

United States Department of Commerce: Staff Publications

Southall et al. (2006) concluded that a near mass stranding (MS) of melon-headed whales (MHWs), Peponocephala electra, in Hanalei Bay, Kauai, Hawaii, on 3–4 July 2004, was likely related to the operation of mid-frequency sonars (MFS). However, subsequent authors argued that the nearly simultaneous entry of MHWs into Sasanhaya Bay, Rota (∼5,740 km away) made this conclusion untenable. They suggested that both sightings, and other MSs of MHWs, could be related to lunar cycles. To resolve this question, we reviewed information on the biology and behavior of MHWs and compared the two sightings to observations of MHWs around Palmyra …

Contrasting Patterns Of Genetic Diversity At Three Different Genetic Markers In A Marine Mammal Metapopulation, J. I. Hoffman, K. K. Dasmahapatra, W. Amos, C. D. Phillips, T. S. Gelatt, J . W. Bickham

United States Department of Commerce: Staff Publications

Many studies use genetic markers to explore population structure and variability within species. However, only a minority use more than one type of marker and, despite increasing evidence of a link between heterozygosity and individual fitness, few ask whether diversity correlates with population trajectory. To address these issues, we analyzed data from the Steller’s sea lion, Eumetiopias jubatus, where three stocks are distributed over a vast geographical range and where both genetic samples and detailed demographic data have been collected from many diverse breeding colonies. To previously published mitochondrial DNA(mtDNA) and microsatellite data sets,we have added new data for …

Evolutionary History, Habitat Disturbance Regimes, And Anthropogenic Changes: What Do These Mean For Resilience Of Pacific Salmon Populations?, Robin Waples, Tim Beechie, George R. Pess

United States Department of Commerce: Staff Publications

Because resilience of a biological system is a product of its evolutionary history, the historical template that describes the relationships between species and their dynamic habitats is an important point of reference. Habitats used by Pacific salmon have been quite variable throughout their evolutionary history, and these habitats can be characterized by four key attributes of disturbance regimes: frequency, magnitude, duration, and predictability. Over the past two centuries, major anthropogenic changes to salmon ecosystems have dramatically altered disturbance regimes that the species experience. To the extent that these disturbance regimes assume characteristics outside the range of the historical template, resilience …

The Neoglacial Landscape And Human History Of Glacier Bay, Glacier Bay National Park And Preserve, Southeast Alaska, Usa, Cathy Connor, Greg Streveler, Austin Post, Daniel Monteith, Wanye Howell

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

The Neoglacial landscape of the Huna Tlingit homeland in Glacier Bay is recreated through new interpretations of the lower Bay’s fjordal geomorphology, late Quaternary geology and its ethnographic landscape. Geological interpretation is enhanced by 38 radiocarbon dates compiled from published and unpublished sources, as well as 15 newly dated samples. Neoglacial changes in ice positions, outwash and lake extents are reconstructed for c. 5500–200 cal. yr ago, and portrayed as a set of three landscapes at 1600–1000, 500–300 and 300–200 cal. yr ago. This history reveals episodic ice advance towards the Bay mouth, transforming it from a fjordal seascape into …

A Comparison Of Fire Severity Patterns In The Late 19th And Early 21st Century In A Mixed Conifer Forest Landscape In The Southern Cascades, Alan H. Taylor, Carl N. Skinner, Becky Estes

Joint Fire Science Program Research Project Reports

The extent and severity of fires in the United States during the last decade has been remarkable. Since 2002, there has been seven years (2002, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2011, 2012) when over 2.8 million ha have burned, more than twice the previous decade. The extent of recent fire activity has increased risks to lives and property (Cohen 2008; , biodiversity and species-at-risk (Spies et al. 2006), the timber value of forests (Butry et al. 2001) and forests as a carbon sink (Hurteau et al. 2008, 2011). Although one driver of the increase in fire extent, at least in western …

Creating Stand-Level Prescriptions That Integrate Ecological And Fuel Management Objectives Across The Eastern Cascades – A Workshop, John F. Lehmkuhl, Sue Livingston, Karl Halupka, Eric Knapp, John Bailey, Bill Gaines

Joint Fire Science Program Research Project Reports

The primary goal of this workshop was to develop a range of fuel reduction prescriptions that integrate fuel and ecological objectives specifically related to northern spotted owl (NSO) conservation in dry forests of the Cascade Range in eastern Washington and Oregon and northern California. The workshop was held at the Eagle Crest Resort, Redmond, Oregon, from October 13-15, 2009. Over 200 managers and scientists attended from California, Oregon, and Washington. Most (82%) of the 194 people who formally registered for the workshop worked for federal land management, research, or regulatory agencies. The rest were a mix of university faculty and …

Fire And Fuels Management In Coast Redwood Forests, Steven P. Norman, J. Morgan Varner, Leonel Arguello, Stephen Underwood, Bradley Graham, Greg Jennings, Yana Valachovic, Christopher Lee

Joint Fire Science Program Research Project Reports

Coast redwood forests rank among the most significant natural features of North America, yet our understanding of how they came to be and how we might sustain them has been beset by scientific and management uncertainty for decades. A key part of this controversy has been the historical importance of fire given the mild coastal climate and small number of lightning ignitions. In the northern part of the coast redwood range, past research found that fire was uncommon, but results conflicted with others that found fire to be as frequent as in any dry forest of western North America. We …

Doe Climate Change Research Program: Strategic Plan

United States Department of Energy: Publications

Advance the forefront of climate change research to provide the nation with the scientific knowledge it needs about the effects of greenhouse gas emissions on Earth's climate and biosphere to support effective energy and environmental decision making.

Angle Of Repose: Testing Erosion And Prescribed Fire In Eastern Oregon And Washington’S Blue Mountains, Lisa-Natalie Anjozian

Joint Fire Science Program Briefs (2007-2012)

Some forest lands in the United States are overgrown with small trees and thick with fuels. Prescribed fire has been used in many forests and woodlands to reduce fuel loads and the risk of wildfi re. But forests are unique, with different soils, plants, weather, and topography. While erosion from prescribed fi re would seem to be less severe than from a wildfire, prior to this study, little data existed on erosion rates and the infl uence of prescribed fi re on erosion in the Blue Mountains of eastern Oregon and Washington. This study showed that hillslope erosion in the …

The Dilemma Of Disappearing Diatoms: Incorporating Diatom Dissolution Data Into Paleoenvironmental Modeling And Reconstruction, David B. Ryves, Richard W. Battarbee, Sherilyn C. Fritz

Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences: Faculty Publications

Taphonomic issues pose fundamental challenges for Quaternary scientists to recover environmental signals from biological proxies and make accurate inferences of past environments. The problem of microfossil preservation, specifically diatom dissolution, remains an important, but often overlooked, source of error in both qualitative and quantitative reconstructions of key variables from fossil samples, especially those using relative abundance data. A first step to tackling this complex issue is establishing an objective method of assessing preservation (here, diatom dissolution) that can be applied by different analysts and incorporated into routine counting strategies. Here, we establish a methodology for assessment of diatom dissolution under …

Inventories And Mobilization Of Unsaturated Zone Sulfate, Fluoride, And Chloride Related To Land Use Change In Semiarid Regions, Southwestern United States And Australia, Bridget R. Scanlon, David A. Stonestrom, Robert C. Reedy, Fred W. Leaney, John B. Gates, Richard G. Cresswell

Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences: Faculty Publications

Unsaturated zone salt reservoirs are potentially mobilized by increased groundwater recharge as semiarid lands are cultivated. This study explores the amounts of pore water sulfate and fluoride relative to chloride in unsaturated zone profiles, evaluates their sources, estimates mobilization due to past land use change, and assesses the impacts on groundwater quality. Inventories of water-extractable chloride, sulfate, and fluoride were determined from borehole samples of soils and sediments collected beneath natural ecosystems (N = 4), nonirrigated ("rain-fed") croplands (N = 18), and irrigated croplands (N = 6) in the southwestern United States and in the Murray Basin, …

Avian Use Of Harvested Crop Fields In North Dakota During Spring Migration, Alegra M. Galle, George M. Linz, H. Jeffrey Homan, William J. Bleier

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Broad-spectrum herbicide applications and improved harvesting efficiency of crops have reduced the availability of weed seeds and waste grains for game and nongame wildlife. Over the last decade, corn and soybean plantings have steadily increased in the Prairie Pothole Region (PPR) of North Dakota, while sunflower plantings have declined. The PPR is an important corridor for migratory birds, and changes in food availabilities at stopover habitats may affect how food resources are used. In early spring 2003 and 2004, we compared bird use of harvested fields of sunflower, soybeans, small grains, and corn in the PPR of North Dakota. Across …

Recent Editions, Linnéa Caproni

Documentary Editing: Journal of the Association for Documentary Editing (1979–2011)

This semiannual bibliography of documentary editions recently published in the fields of American and British history, literature, and culture is generally restricted to scholarly first editions of English language works. In addition to the bibliographical references, Internet addresses are provided for the editorial project or the publisher.

Review Of A Call To Action: An Introduction To Education, Philosophy, And Native North America By Curry Stephenson Malott, Malia Villegas

Great Plains Quarterly (through 2013)

In A Call to Action, Curry Stephenson Malott appeals to North American educators to acknowledge their essential role in the ongoing struggle for sustainable and ethical ways of living as humans. Malott joins a rising chorus of scholars who warn about a singular focus on the conflict between Indigenous and Western epistemologies (e.g., Glen Aikenhead's "Integrating Western and Aboriginal Sciences: Cross-Cultural Science Teaching" in Research in Science Education, 2001; Ray Barnhardt and A. O. Kawagley's "Indigenous Knowledge Systems and Alaska Native Ways of Knowing" in Anthropology and Education Quarterly 2005; and Ladislaus Semali and J. L.Kincheloe's editors' …

Review Of The Long Journey Of A Forgotten People: Metis Identities And Family Histories Edited By Ute Lischke And David T. Mcnab; The Western Metis: Profile Of A People Edited By Patrick C. Douaud, Mike Evans

Great Plains Quarterly (through 2013)

The recent publication of Long Journey and Western Metis is indicative of the burgeoning interest in Metis studies; there are a remarkable number of scholars, new and old, now publishing in the area. It seems likely that this burst of activity is related to the recent Supreme Court of Canada decision in R. v. Powley, 2003, S.c.c. 43 (http://www.canliLorg/en/ca/scc/ doc/2003/2003scc43/2003scc43.html) dealing with the complex issues of Metis identity and rights.

Though the impetus for the publications might be linked to a common legal event, the publications themselves are very different: The Western Metis is a collection well rooted in an …

Journal Of The National Collegiate Honors Council, Vol. 10, No. 1, Spring/Summer 2009

Journal of the National Collegiate Honors Council Online Archive

CONTENTS

Call for Papers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Submission Guidelines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Dedication to Mitch Pruitt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Editor’s Introduction (Ada Long) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

FORUM ON “SOCIAL CLASS AND HONORS” …

Honors Is Elitist, And What’S Wrong With That?, Norm Weiner

Journal of the National Collegiate Honors Council Online Archive

Like many other concepts in the sociological literature, social class is easier to discuss than to define. Nonetheless, define it we must in order to have some common ground for discussing it and for explaining it to our students. Aquick scan of basic textbooks, those defenders of sociology’s virtues, gives us a definition something like this: “A social class is a group of people [in sociology, it’s always safe to start this way] who share the same level of income and education and therefore share roughly the same norms, values, and lifestyle.” To be perfectly clear about this, sociologists aren’t …

Title And Contents- Fall 2009

Great Plains Quarterly (through 2013)

GREAT PLAINS QUARTERLY

Volume 29 / Number 4 / Fall 2009

"DAUGHTERS OF BRITISH BLOOD" OR "HORDES OF MEN OF ALIEN RACE"; THE HOMESTEADS-FOR-WOMEN CAMPAIGN IN WESTERN CANADA

PARALLEL TRACKS, SAME TERMINUS; THE ROLE OF NINETEENTH-CENTURY NEWSPAPERS AND RAILROADS IN THE SETTLEMENT OF NEBRASKA

"REJOICING IN THE BEAUTIES OF NATURE"; THE IMAGE OF THE WESTERN LANDSCAPE DURING THE FUR TRADE

BOOK REVIEWS

NOTES AND NEWS

Title And Contents

Great Plains Quarterly (through 2013)

GREAT PLAINS QUARTERLY

Volume 29 / Number 1 / Winter 2009

THE METHODISTS' GREAT 1869 CAMP MEETING AND ABORIGINAL CONSERVATION STRATEGIES IN THE NORTH SASKATCHEWAN RIVER VALLEY

"YOU HAVE TO BE INVOLVED ... TO PLAY A PART IN IT": ASSESSING KAINAI ATTITUDES ABOUT VOTING IN CANADIAN ELECTIONS

JIM, ANTONIA, AND THE WOLVES: DISPLACEMENT IN CATHER'S MY ANTONIA

REVIEW ESSAY: WHAT'S CHOCTAW HISTORY-AND WHO GETS TO SAY?

BOOK REVIEWS

NOTES AND NEWS

Review Of Dark Storm Moving West, By Barbara Belyea, Arn Keeling

Great Plains Quarterly (through 2013)

In the freshet of scholarly and popular studies accompanying the recent bicentennials of Lewis and Clark's and David Thompson's westward explorations, Dark Storm Moving West forms an eddy of reflection on the practical, communicative, and philosophical challenges of understanding Euro-American exploration in western North America. English professor turned exploration historian Barbara Belyea eschews traditional narratives or grand theses in favor of dense rumination on particular episodes, personalities, and questions. Swirling and riffled at the surface, these waters yet find more subtle coherences in their depths than Belyea herself admits.

Her essays are focused loosely on the figure of Peter Fidler, …

Open To Horror The Great Plains Situation In Contemporary Thrillers By E. E. Knight And By Douglas Preston And Lincoln Child, A. B. Emrys

Great Plains Quarterly (through 2013)

From the agoraphobic prairie where the father of Willa Cather's Antonia kills himself, to the claustrophobic North Dakota town of Argus devastated by storm in Louise Erdrich's "Fleur," to Lightning Flat, the grim home of Jack Twist in Annie Proulx's "Brokeback Mountain," much Great Plains literature is situational, placing human drama in the context of historicalor contemporary setting. Isolation, fierce weather, and inherent pressures on survival remain primary, and the Plains is a character in itself that appears as a presence, whether foregrounded or ghostly, in works that cannot help but evoke the Great Plains then and now. The Plains' …

Review Of The History Of Texas Music. By Gary Hartman, Kent Blaser

Great Plains Quarterly (through 2013)

Texas encompasses a uniquely wide-ranging and diverse blend of ethnic and regional cultures that have in turn fostered an amazingly rich and creative musical environment. It has arguably contributed more, in both quality and variety, to the overall development of American music than any other single state. While much has been written about specific aspects of Texas music, this book is one of the first to attempt a comprehensive treatment of the subject.

Hartman's first major theme concerns "tejana" musical traditions, the blending of Spanish/Mexican with Anglo-American music in the Southwest borderlands. Mariachi, canciones, and corridos were the foundations for …

When Mentoring Is The Medium: Lessons Learned From A Faculty Development Initiative, Jung H. Yun, Mary Deane Sorcinelli

To Improve the Academy: A Journal of Educational Development

Campuses across the country are investing considerable time, effort, and expense to replenish their faculty ranks with a new generation of scholars. How can mentoring help these new faculty juggle the many demands of surviving and thriving in academia? And how can institutions frame mentoring as a broader faculty development initiative in which faculty at all stages of the academic career can teach and learn from each other? This chapter addresses these questions by sharing the goals, design, and lessons learned from the Mutual Mentoring Initiative at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.

Marginal Value Of Irrigation Water Use In The South Saskatchewan River Basin, Canada, Antony Samarawickrema, Suren Kulshreshtha

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

The allocation of water is part of water management. In order to achieve maximum benefits to society, water should be allocated toward uses that have the highest value, followed, as an alternative, by the next highest level or one with equal value. Such decisions require knowledge of water value at the last unit of use. Within agriculture, irrigation is important. Irrigation water must be allocated to various crops; therefore, producers require knowledge of the marginal value of water among alternative crops. This study estimates marginal value product for irrigation water within the southern areas of the Canadian Prairie Provinces using …

Historical Changes In The Occurrence And Distribution Of Freshwater Mussels In Kansas, Robert T. Angelo, M. Steve Cringan, Eva Hays, Clint A. Goodrich, Edwin J. Miller, Mark A. Vanscoyoc, Bryan R. Simmons

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

The surface waters of eastern and central Kansas once supported an impressive variety of native freshwater mussels, but a widespread decline in species richness accompanied the urban, industrial, and agricultural development of this region. Statewide mussel surveys implemented during the past two decades have shed new light on the scope and severity of this decline. Of the 48 mussel species originally known from Kansas, six are now extirpated, one lacks reproductively viable populations (i.e., faces imminent extirpation), and 38 others have suffered evident range reductions or a widespread thinning of former populations. Soil erosion and stream siltation, other forms of …

Book Review: Dirt: The Erosion Of Civilizations By David R. Montgomery, Mark S. Kuzila

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

The book provides an understanding of the role that soil management has played in the success or failure of civilizations. It documents the fact that soil erosion in the 1930s in the Great Plains was part of a succession of soil erosions resulting from poor management that began thousands of years before. Unfortunately, lessons learned from the Great Plains in the 1930s have not been heeded, and major outbreaks of soil erosion have occurred since that time. The book provides an insight into the reasons why we should continue to strive for sustainable use of our soil resources. It is …

Book Review: Hard Road West: History And Geology Along The Gold Rush Trail By Keith Heyer Meldahl., Harmon D. Maher Jr.

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

The dust jacket of Hard Road West promises familiar pleasures to John McPhee lovers, and so I picked the book up with great anticipation. McPhee’s works have greatly heightened the interest of writers and readers in the genre of creative nonfiction, and while for me, Keith Meldahl’s work does not quite reach McPhee’s stratospheric heights, for the right audience it is definitely a very good read.

The book is organized from east to west, forward in time, following in detail the wagon trail journey to the California gold fields. That human migration, driven by the search for geologic riches, provides …

Archeological Interpretation Of The Frontier Battle At Mud Springs, Nebraska, Peter Bleed, Douglas D. Scott

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

Between February 4 and 7, 1865, Cheyenne, Sioux, and Arapaho warriors engaged a force of U.S. Army soldiers at Mud Springs, Nebraska. Historical records from both sides indicate that this fight marked an early phase of the Indian Wars. Based on systematic metal detections, firearms identification, and terrain analysis, this paper adds archeological insights into the arms and tactics used by the opposing sides. Well-armed Native fighters used terrain to approach U.S. troops, who maintained a defensive posture. U.S. soldiers appear to have dug a rifle pit to see approaching attackers.

Nebraska Greenscene: Annual Publication From Agronomy And Horticulture 2009

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Annual Newsletters

CONTENTS

Letter from the Head. 3

Alumni news

The Best Learning Experience!. 4

Hello From South Dakota. 7

From Argentina to America. 15

Staff news

A Word with Karen Kreider, Carol Speth, and Michael Livingston . 5

Photo Contest Winners . 6

Faculty news

Promotions and Tenure. 6

Searching the Soil. 14

Plant Vitamins in the Basset Laboratory. 13

Student news

Ten Years in the Making. 8

Grapes in the Cornhusker State. 10

Meet Kelly Brink. 11

Efficiency in the Field . 15